


Spirits in Unison

by ViChrisJin



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Adventure, Angst, F/F, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Spirits
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-10-25 02:25:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 27,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17716277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViChrisJin/pseuds/ViChrisJin
Summary: A story of love, power, and the ethereal. After Heejin comes across a mysterious object marked by the moon, a chain of events is set off that will bring the girls together as they discover a deeper world, not only externally, but in themselves as well. Cross posted on AFF.





	1. Prologue/Heejin I

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#  Prologue

 

In the middle of an old, abandoned temple stood a stone pillar. It stretched to endless heights, still sturdy and unmoving despite the dust and spider webs living on its cold surface.

In the pillar there lived large statues of animals. Four statues stood side by side at the base, four in the middle section, and four more at the top. They were dormant.

It was a regular night when it awoke. The first statue. The rabbit statue. The moon was whole that night.

As if yawning and stretching out its arms, its eyes began to glow once more and the dust left its body. For a while, it simply stood there, its eyes glowing. No one took any notice. There wasn't a soul in that place, at least, not a human soul.

In the rabbit's cupped hands, there appeared an orb. A silver sphere without a scratch. The light left the eyes of the rabbit and traveled into the orb.

The orb mirrored the moon's beauty. The rabbit spirit was home once again.

Like a newborn baby, the spirit cried out into the world. If any humans had been there that night, none of them would've been able to hear this joyful cry. The sound was meant only for the ear of kindred spirits.

A group of white haired rabbits scurried into the temple and hurried over to the statue. There was a small entrance made for them long ago, when the place first came into being. The lead rabbit made its way into the hole and exited through another hole in the wrists of the statue. The rabbit went to the opposite side of the orb and nudged it into the hole, sending it rolling down to the other rabbits.

With their combined strength, they put the orb on all of their backs and made their way out of the temple.

The forest cried tears of joy.

 

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#  Heejin I

####  _**Exodus Under a Tree** _

 

Heejin sat alongside the other students, all of her attention on the paper in front of her. That whole morning she had carefully picked out what she was going to wear for the day. It was one of her better looking dresses, not quite fit for the biggest ceremonies but it would suit that occasion just fine. Her hair flowed down to her shoulders and her part was topped by a  _Cheopji_  (hair pin). Paranoia stared back at her from the other side of the page. She knew if she didn't dress well for the occasion, the gods wouldn't look favorably on her. That's what her mother had been telling her for the past month. She should have really taken her advice more seriously.

The question was really doing a number on her. How long had the feather pen been dipped in ink? She inhaled deeply and let out a hefty breath from her anxious soul.

 _"Calm down,"_ she told herself,  _"I know I studied this... I just have to remember what..."_

With the utmost caution, she took a peek over to her right. Both of their eyes met, they smirked. Should have figured, Hyunjin was probably having just as much trouble on her exam as she was. Hyunjin was wearing an even fancier silk dress with long sleeves. Oh, the perks of being a richer woman's step daughter (even if they had probably forced her to wear it).

Heejin took another look up at the teacher who was busy scribbling who-knows-what on his scroll. It seemed as though his interest was attracted more towards his own writing than the wellbeing of his students. She had always had that suspicion, but the predicament she was in made it more apparent. He was some know-it-all aristocrat appointed by one of the nine queens who was just using this job as an opportunity to get an even better one in a couple of years, or even sooner if it was possible.

She shook those wandering thoughts from her mind. There was no use in blaming others or blaming her clothing. The burden was on _her_ shoulders. She knew very well she could do this, like all the other times before. Heejin finally took the pen out from the ink and began writing.

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After the exam, the whole school gathered together in the courtyard for the ceremony. The students were separated into male and female sides. It was a beautiful day, a perfect contrast to Heejin's current mood. She could feel her stomach aching from the nerves... or maybe it was the fact that she had barely touched her food that morning. Either way, she was eager to find out just how well she did. Not only that, she was eager to find out just how well Hyunjin had done.

A hand touched hers.

Hyunjin sat down next to her on one of the benches in front. "How are you holding up?"

"I feel like I'm about to tip over and smack my face on the floor, how about you?"

Hyunjin giggled and squeezed her hand tighter, as if to emphasize what she was about to say. "Try not to worry too much, okay? How many times have you been through this?"

"A lot."

"And how many times were you one of the best in the school?"

"A lot."

"Exactly. So calm down and practice that pretty smile."

Heejin nodded, exhaling and slowing down her breathing a bit. Hyunjin bit down on some bread and handed the rest over to her.

Heejin shook her head. "No thank— wait, where did you even get that?" She spun her head around, making sure there weren't any teachers looking.

"I have my connections, that's all you need to know." She swallowed the bread quickly and stuffed the rest somewhere down her dress. "Why did you even sit this close to the front anyway?"

Heejin shrugged. "I figured the quicker I get up on stage, the more time I'll have to take in the applause."

Hyunjin just smiled and shook her head as everyone directed their attention to the principal of the school. He was a middle-aged man with a long beard and a back like a horseshoe.

"Good afternoon everyone. I'd like to congratulate all of you on completing the examinations, I am told that the scores were the highest in the history of the school..."

This was surely a good sign right?

"...At least among the seniors. The rest of you still have room to improve I suppose."

Heejin curled her toes up. Unease peeked its head back in to point and laugh at her unfound sense of solace.

"Well..." he continued, "let's proceed shall we?"

Male and female teachers rose from their seats behind him and stood tall overlooking their respective sides. This was it. The teachers would call the name of every student with a passing score and make said score be heard to the entire school. As was tradition, the male side had a name called first, then they alternated until the last person was called. The seniors went first. Heejin and Hyunjin were right below them.

The seniors were called up one by one and, just as the principal had said, that year's scores where eye-opening. When Heejin knew they were up next, she instinctively grasped Hyunjin's hand again, bracing for impact.

"Jeon Heejin." The lady teacher called.

Heejin let go of her friend's hand and stood up straight, slight relief coloring her face.

"Ninety-seven out of one hundred."

Heejin's hands almost went up in the air in celebration as the applause roared around her. She looked down at Hyunjin who was already hugging her. She heard some snickering from the students but she didn't care. She wiggled out of Hyunjin's clutches and proudly walked up on stage to receive her certificate. She looked down at it and tried to pick up whatever was left of her brain after it was destroyed by  _that_ number. Ninety-seven. That was up there with the highest in the entire school, probably the highest in her grade.

Just as she had said, Heejin stood there and basked in her glory. She really should have worn something fancier. Maybe she could have received a perfect score.

After the applause was done, she returned to her seat, greeted by Hyunjin's wide smile.

"Okay, now it's your turn," Heejin said as they clapped for another student, "I promise not to embarrass you like you just did to me."

"You're embarrassed to get a hug from your best friend after  _that_?"

She had a point. "Okay but I'll make it a quick one."

The names alternated a couple more times before the female instructor stood up again to call out a name. Unless some mysterious student had secretly transferred, it was Hyunjin's turn.

"Kim Sejeong. Ninety-six out of one hundred."

_What!?_

She didn't even want to look at Hyunjin, she couldn't imagine the horror that must've gone through...  _oh, she's clapping. And smiling._ This had to be some kind of coping mechanism.

"Are you  _okay_?" Heejin asked her.

"Yes." Hyunjin looked a bit confused. "Why wouldn't I be  _okay_? The girl just got the second highest score in our grade."

"Well you— uh..."

"I'll just have to do better next time. It's not like this holds me back a grade or anything." Hyunjin took the opportunity while everyone was clapping to reach down into her dress and finish the bread she had stored.

All Heejin could do shake her head and respectfully join in the applause.

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To celebrate Heejin's high exam score, her parents threw her a quick celebration get-together. They invited their friends, including Hyunjin's family, over for dinner. The day remained warm as they all sat outside under the brightening evening moonlight.

Heejin and Hyunjin's families shared a table.

"So how did you do it?" One of Hyunjin's mothers, Naeun, asked. "The Gods really blessed you with a great mind, you must be very thankful."

"Yes, thank you." Heejin took a quick peek at Hyunjin who was sitting directly across from her. "I actually owe a lot to Hyunjin. She really gave me support and helped me whenever I needed it."

"Yeah," Hyunjin's other mother, Seolhyun, began, "it's just too bad she couldn't use any of that helpon herself."

"I only missed passing by two points." Hyunjin's words were muffled a bit with the food in .

"Hyunjin, please don't speak with you mouth full." Naeun gave her daughter a look of disappointment. "Chew first, then swallow, then talk. One at a time."

Hyunjin's face dipped a bit as she swallowed. "I know how to eat mother, you don't have to explain it to me."

Flying in to break the tension, Heejin's mother spoke up. "Well we're all very proud of you sweetie. I'd like to think your father and I had a little something to do with your success don't you?"

Oh brother. Heejin loved her mother as much as any daughter could and she would do anything for her... but that thorn being stuck in her side was more than a little annoying. This was a more recent thing, ever since Heejin began having more and more success in school her parents would rush at the opportunity to give themselves just a little bit of credit. Sometimes the congratulations came after.

"Yes of course." Heejin buried the thought as deep as she could and smiled. These people needed to see them in the best light. "My mother taught me everything I know about studying and going through school. She also picked out the clothes I wore today."

"Well I guess we know the answer to your little secret now," Seolhyun laughed.

Heejin pushed out a laugh of her own and gave Hyunjin another look. This time it was returned with one that said,  _"we need to talk."_

The time to talk came after everyone had finished their dinner and separated off into their own little groups to mingle. Heejin's parents had used up all of the room they had available to invite their own friends over so the only friend of Heejin's that was invited was the one with the richest parents. They sat under a sturdy oak tree, away from any unwelcome ears.

"Are you okay?" Heejin began with a question she already knew the answer to.

"What do you think?" Hyunjin took a moment to look around the place. "I don't like it when I'm made to feel like a baby. Just because my scores aren't as high as yours doesn't mean they should treat me like that in front of everyone. Sometimes I think they wish they had adopted you somehow."

"Don't say that. Sometimes people just have a bad day, it doesn't mean—"

Hyunjin cut her off, "I don't think you get it, Heejin."

Heejin raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean... do you really think I couldn't pass the exams if I wanted to?"

Oh no. Heejin hoped she wasn't saying what she thought she was saying. "... you didn't study?"

Hyunjin turned away but Heejin took her by the chin and turned her head back in the other direction, looking her directly in the eyes.

"I don't..." Hyunjin took a big breath, as if collecting her thoughts. "I don't want to."

Heejin was beyond bewildered. "W-Why? I don't understand."

"I don't know, maybeI was hoping that my parents would show me that they actually care about me beyond some numbers on a paper, or graduating and getting married to some rich guy that they'll pick out for me."

Hyunjin had never really had a bubbling relationship with her parents but this was something else. These word were... purposefully sabotaging your exam scores? That could get someone disowned. Is that what she wanted?

Heejin took her hands. "Look at me. Listen. What is it that you want to do? Because I don't want you throwing your life away for some... vague idea of—"

"Well maybe I _do_ want to throw this life away." Hyunjin put a hand to as a tear came trickling down her cheek. "Ever since I was adopted, all I have ever been is another girl trying to appease her parents. In school, with their friends, anywhere. It doesn't matter. I can't even remember the last time I dressed myself. I'm afraid to even eat too much because I might get something on my clothes and gods know we can't have that happening. What's the point of doing all of this if it doesn't make me happy?"

That question really stumped her; it stumped her more than any she had seen on the most difficult of exams, but she found an answer once again. "It's about sacrifice. Even if you don't like it, sometimes you have to do these things to have a better life in the future. Like it or not, it's the only way to get anywhere in this world. You've been given a better life than you had before, I don't want to see you waste it. Please, let me help you. Don't do it for them, do it for you. Do it for me."

"I..." Hyunjin wiped off some more tears that had welled up. "I think you're the only reason I haven't gone completely insane." She looked up at the moon. "I wish someone would come along and whisk me away to... some place with little gingerbread girls where I could frolic in the forest and not have to worry about anything."

Heejin smiled. "You _would_ leave me for bread wouldn't you?"

Hyunjin just gave her a sideways look. "Who says I would leave without you?" 

The two embraced in a tight hug. Heejin squeezed her hard, even grimacing, as if that would somehow force all of the pain and sorrow Hyunjin had been through out of her. All she wanted was for her to smile without having to wonder if she was hiding anything underneath. Heejin could never begin to understand her situation, but she would be damned if she didn't do her best to help.

"I don't ever want you to leave," Heejin said, still hugging tight, "Tomorrow morning I'll meet you in the library.I'm going to tutor you, it'll be much more fun memorizing these things with me, okay? After that we'll go down to the river for a while... or wherever you want."

Hyunjin pulled away and gave her a pair of puppy dog eyes. "Can we go to the moon?"

Heejin smiled. "Only if you pass your exams."

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It had gotten pretty late into the night when the last of the guests left the Jeon residence. Heejin and her mother were cleaning up the plates and food that was left over.

"So what were you and Hyunjin talking about sweetie?"

"Nothing much; just some school stuff. I'm actually going to start tutoring her starting tomorrow."

"Well, you're good friend." Her mother walked over with plates in her hands and smiled. "Listen, I know I may get a little... enthusiastic when we have friends over but I hope you know we do it for a good reason."

Heejin nodded. "I understand. You have to do what's best for the family just like I do."

"Just like we all do. I don't want you to forget that, Heejin. You're at an age in your life where things are changing and they're going to start changing fast. You're a  _beautiful_ young lady with so much potential. I just don't want you to let that go to your head."

Ah, the classic mother pep talk. Heejin had wondered where in the month it would happen.

Her mother continued. "I want you to stay humble, keep working hard, and whatever you do don't go chasing love with some no good chump."

She laughed. "I promise I won't do that."

"Yeah, you're right. I know you would never break Hyunjin's heart like that."

Heejin's eyes widened a little and she felt a little warmth rush to her cheeks. "What do you mean?"

"Oh I don't know," her mother teased, "just watch out for that girl, it's all I'm saying."

"It's not like that," Heejin argued, "you know we're just friends."

"Not like that for you maybe."

Before Heejin could utter another word, her mother turned around and headed back inside before coming back and leaving a bouquet of flowers on the table. "Go talk with your grandfather, I don't want you ignoring him today."

Heejin nodded and continued cleaning up the tables as she got lost in the thought her mother had placed in her mind. She was obviously just pulling her leg. Hyunjin had told her many times of the boys she had had a crush on, although they never did amount to anything more than that. They never approached her and shyness always got the best of her when it came to boys for some reason. She could never summon the strength to go further than a quickhello or an awkward wave.

Heejin finished cleaning off the tables and made her way down the slope of the hill with the flowers, into the trees. It had been a while since she had talked with her grandfather, an unfortunate result of her focusing more on her studies, but she was sure he would understand. Ever since he moved out here all those years ago, she would come visit him. He lived under the brittle branches of an old tree, under the soft grass and sturdy soil of a nice little garden they had carved out for him. Heejin took shelter in the fact that he was probably comfortable and no longer in pain, even if she couldn't see his face anymore.

She took a rag and wiped away the bugs that had gathered on his tombstone, shaking her head. She wished they had more money so they could've bought him a better resting place. She smiled, he probably would rise from the grave and nag them about daring to spend any money on such useless things. "Hello grandpa, how have you been?"

A warm breeze blew by before she continued. "I've been well. I finally took the exam and you'll never guess what I scored... a ninety-seven. Isn't that great? I wish you could've seen it."

Heejin leaned down and rested the flowers on his tombstone. "I wore the hair pin you gave me for good luck. I've been wearing it to every exam since I was a little kid... just like you told me."

She froze for a moment, mulling her next words over. "Do you remember Hyunjin? You would never be able to tell but she's been going through a rough time. It's like she's stuck in this weird place where she doesn't have the motivation to really apply herself. I've never really thought about it but now that I am... don't we really just spend all of our lives doing school work and raising children? And trying to make the people above us like us a little more?"

She sighed. It was like she was riding a horse down an unexplored path that was always there just waiting for her. "Grandpa, how many years of your life did you spend doing what you really wanted and not following what you were told to? It seems like the only little bit of time where that happened for me was... well, I don't really know I guess. Maybe when I was a little kid... I wish I could go back there, even if it's just to spend a little time with you again."

There was a hollowed silence surrounding her at that moment. The wind whispered sweet nostalgia in her ear as a small light appeared on the ground among the trees.

Heejin squinted at it for a bit. "Hello? Is someone there?"

There was no answer. The light only grew bigger as it came closer and closer to her. She began to back up, then stopped when she saw what it was. A group of rabbits carrying a silver orb on their backs ran up to her and stopped.

The light coming from the orb was something Heejin could not look away from. It hooked all of her, especially the soul of the small child inside her.

There was an engraving of a crescent moon on the orb. Heejin couldn't say or do anything except stare. It was calling to her. She reached down and softly put her fingers on the orb.

What Heejin experienced next could only be described as a meeting between everything that made her human and a new energy. She  _felt_  entire body glow as she took the orb into her hands, agape. Her breathing became slower until she felt as though she didn't need to breathe; she didn't need to see. All of her sensations and emotions became one and embraced the new energy with open arms.

For that moment, the world was a vivid painting of colors she had never seen before. Then, everything became colorless.

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	2. Hyunjin I

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#  ** Hyunjin I **

####  _**Crepuscular** _

****

 

The size of the Seondeok library filled Hyunjin with awe. She walked through the aisles, looking up at shelf after shelf of neatly organized books; they seemed endless. The amount of information, the history of the kingdoms, it made her dizzy just thinking about it, even a little nauseous. How long would it take for her to get through it all? She didn't even want to know how long it would take to get through _one_.

Hyunjin showed her school badge to the elderly librarian and pushed her way past silk curtains, into the back room. This room was reserved only for students of high class schools, or at least that's what Heejin had told her.

Since this was the morning during an off day, there were only a few people in the room and she didn't recognize any of them. Hyunjin took a seat at an empty table next to an open window in the corner of the room, feeling the cool breeze against her cheeks and cherishing the natural light that filled the room. She took a quick look around, a tinge of discomfort rubbing against her shoulder as she caught a few glances. It was as if they could smell the exam score on her like the stench on the homeless.

Maybe she was just being paranoid. Though, everyone in the room did have an aura of smugness about them. _No._  She mentally slapped herself for being even a little judgmental. The mere act of existing around nobility was still a square peg trying to fit into her round state of mind.

Hyunjin looked out the window into the gleaming sunlight. The library was one of the many buildings sitting atop the hills that overlooked the city. She could make out the towering city wall in the distance as well as the rich homes nearby and the slums further down; the lower territories, her real home. Birds flew overhead and people flowed through the city streets like water in narrow river beds. Just as a memory was unveiling itself to her, she heard someone sit beside her. It wasn't Heejin.

"Hey there." A young boy placed a couple of full tea cups in the table at each side and gave her a smile. "You new here? I saw you sitting here alone and thought someone should welcome you."

Ugh. She was never good at these things. Her first instinct was to kindly tell him to leave her in peace to wait for her friend, but this environment didn't allow for full honesty and she didn't have the temperament to be even a little harsh to strangers.

"I was actually waiting for a friend." She smiled and took the cup and plate into her hands. "She shouldn't be too long."

"Oh, that's interesting. What school do you girls go to?"

It wasn't really that interesting. "Hyomin Academy."

" _Ohhh_... I see. I go to..."

Hyunjin just continued to smile and nod as she let her mind drift off to anywhere else that wasn't  _there_. She wondered what Heejin would be wearing that day. She always liked it when she wore something that met the bare minimum requirement for walking around the upper-class hills. Big fancy dresses were something that Hyunjin wore just to avoid the ire of her parents. Some of them were okay, she guessed, but she didn't like them on Heejin. She tapped her fingers together under the table, getting a little antsy, looking over to the entrance.

"... my name's Yoo-joon, from the fifth Min family. Who might you be if you don't mind me asking?"

Jeez, was he _just_ getting around to his name? She awkwardly widened her smile, acting as if she had the slightest clue of who he was. The fifth Min family? She could never get those elite families right, so many names and so much... boring repetition, a spinning wheel of interchangeable names and numbers that failed to grab her interest. Whoever he was, it would probably have been the most beneficial to her and her family's social standing if she got along really well with him... but that was no fun. "My name's Jinri of the... seventh Choi family. Nice to meet you."

The boy's eyes showed a hint of confusion and disappointment. "Oh. I don't think I'm familiar with it. How much would you say your family is worth?"

A flame of anger from the darkest pit of her being shot up, but she blocked it before he could notice. Why couldn't they just talk like  _people_  and stop being so worried about money before deciding what to do with her? Like she told her the night before, if it wasn't for Heejin, she would have already lost all hope in finding anyone she could have a normal conversation with. She really was lucky to have met her.

"Well I seem to be doing alright," she finally answered, "My clothes are always clean, I get a good amount of food each day..." Just then, she saw Heejin walk in. "Oh and I have a great group of friends who love me very much."

"Hyunjin." Heejin paced over to the table with a purse over her shoulder.

"What took you so long?" Hyunjin asked.

Without even answering, Heejin took her by the arm and dragged her away from the table, completely ignoring whatshisname.

"Hey, hey!" Hyunjin covered her mouth, forgetting where she was as the librarian shot her a stern stare. She lowered her voice. "What's wrong? I thought we were going to—"

"No time. I have to show you something." Heejin led her out of the library and into the court yard. They went down the main path before breaking off and settling down under a shady tree where no one could see them. Heejin pulled out a large silver ball with an engraving of a moon on it. She just stared at it, as if expecting Hyunjin to know what it was.

"What is that?" She finally asked.

"Hyunjin... you're never going to believe me. I— it's hard to explain what it is but... do you remember my grandfather?"

"Yes?" Hyunjin couldn't tell if she liked the look on her friend's face or not, it was certainly different. She only half-lying, Heejin's grandfather had passed too long ago for her to have a solid image in her memory for him.

"Well last night after you left I went to talk with him and out of nowhere these rabbits come up to me with this. As soon as I got it in—"

"Wait, wait, wait, what?" Hyunjin couldn't believe she had said that as if it was the most ordinary thing. "Rabbits?"

"Yes rabbits. Anyway, as soon as I got this in my hands I could... I could... it's like there's a whole other world open to me. Not one that's off in the sky somewhere but one that's right here." She pulled out a smaller orb from the bag, this one was a pinkish color with the same engraving. "Hyunjin... I talked to a spirit last night."

Hyunjin shook her head and put both hands on her eyes, trying to get a grip on the whole thing. "Heejin... are you okay? Is the schoolwork getting to you too? Do you need to see a therapist? Because my mother knows-"

Heejin laughed as genuinely as Hyunjin had ever heard her laugh. "No, I don't need a therapist. I understand this is a little too much too take in but please, I'm not crazy and you know I would never lie to you."

Hyunjin just looked her straight in the eyes, the truth showed itself to her immediately. She really wasn't lying. "What else happened?"

"Right after I touched it, I saw so many colors. Colors I didn't even think were possible... but it only lasted for a few seconds. Ever since then I've been colorblind and I can only see color when—"

"Heejin!" She covered her mouth after the fact again before whispering. "Heejin... what!? You're colorblind? We need to take you to the doctor right now! C'mon." Hyunjin stood up, expecting her friend to do the same but she didn't. She just sat there looking up at her with the most peculiar look on her face.

"Please Hyunjin, sit back down. I'm sorry if I worried you. I didn't mean to."

The calmness in Heejin's words helped her sit back down. "Well you did. How could you be calm at a time like this? Heejin, I don't know if you realize what words are coming out of your mouth but you just said you're _colorblind_."

"You know what's interesting? In hindsight, I should've had the same reaction as you when it happened. I should've been screaming and calling for my mommy, but that didn't happen. There is something in me that's telling me this is alright, this is the way it’s supposed to be. I'm okay with this. As long as I can see you and you can see me, what's the problem right?"

Hyunjin wasn't even thinking at the moment, she was just letting out whatever words happened to be next in line. "What was the spirit you talked about? What did it tell you?"

"Well it doesn't really talk. I'm guessing it's because animals can't speak human languages, so it talks through images." Heejin held up the smaller pink orb. "The spirit lives in here. This one was created after I touched the silver one. I can only communicate with it when I'm holding it. I can also see in color right now, but as soon as I let it go, everything goes black and white again."

Hyunjin nodded, though still unsure of what to make of this insane revelation. She knew Heejin was telling the truth, or what she thought was the truth. Could it have been possible that someone was playing some really elaborate trick on— no... Oh god, this was insane. "Who else have you told about this?"

"No one else. Just you."

"You haven't told your parents?"

Heejin gave her a look that said _"seriously?"._ "You know what would happen if I told them? They would confiscate it from me and go run off to show everyone else. No, I don't think anyone else needs to know. This is something that needs to be handled with care. You are the only person I can trust to not let this get out to anyone else."

This was so unlike Heejin. The Heejin she knew would never have kept something this big from her parents. There was definitely something strange going on with this thing. She could feel worry crawling under her skin. "So what do we do now?"

"Now..." Heejin put the orbs back in her back and stood, extending her arm out to pull Hyunjin up. "Now we do what we came here to do, study. Only we're not going to be doing anything school-related."

They headed back into the library, this time staying away from the back room. They asked the librarian for any books on spirits, history books, books on spirituality, and ancient religions, anything they could get their hands on. Then they spent a decent amount of time skimming each one of them, deciding which ones were worth keeping. The rest were handed back.

"That's the thing with history and spiritual books," the librarian said, "it's a bunch of he said this and this happened here, but by the time it gets to this point so much of it has been changed that you just don't know what you should believe."

A couple of the books they kept were wider than their faces. Hyunjin could already tell she was going to dread going through them, but this wasn't for any ordinary exam, this would be worth it. Whatever Heejin had discovered was important.

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After checking out the books, they went back to Heejin's home. Her parents were out in the town so they had the house to themselves. There was an old wooden structure in a tree in the back that was built in the shape of a small castle. Hyunjin could barely remember the last time they had played up there but they couldn't risk drawing any suspicion from Heejin's parents. They climbed up the creaky ladder, sat on the floor, and cracked open the books, looking for anything that could help them.

Hyunjin was going through hers quickly, looking only for a few key words to avoid reading everything. By the time she had gotten to the thirtieth page, Hyunjin's eyes were already getting heavy. A little later, her head was slipping off of her supporting hand and almost hitting the floor.

She looked over at Heejin who looked like she had just seen a ghost with how open her eyes were... oh wait. Hyunjin then looked at the silver orb that she had out. "Hey..."

"Did you find anything?"

"No but I have an idea... what would happen if I touched the orb?"

Heejin froze for a moment, seemingly in deep thought as she looked from Hyunjin to the orb. "I don't know... but I'm not sure if I want you to take that chance. I got off with just colorblindness but I don't know how it would affect you, even if it did give you positive effects."

"Well I'm willing to try, I don't mind being colorblind. Or if it's something else, how bad could it be?"

Heejin gave her a concerned look. "I'll... think about it... but I think we should keep reading first."

"Yeah... about that. I really want to help you Heejin, but my eyes are getting really tired. I could barely stay awake." Hyunjin's stomach grumbled. "And my belly's yelling at me."

Heejin laughed. "That's okay. How about we go bring something to eat and I can read to you."

"You're going to read me a history book for naptime?"

"Hey, it'll make falling asleep a little easier right?"

So, Heejin went inside and prepared the two of them a quick snack with some bread for Hyunjin. They took it back up to the tree castle and finished it quickly. Then Hyunjin lay her head down on her friend's lap as her low voice began reciting the words on the pages.

"... The ancient kingdoms were a period of intriguing cultures. Shamans were very popular in many areas, even more so than the present. It is difficult to say what..."

Heejin's voice caressed Hyunjin, slowly bringing her eyelids together.

Hyunjin found herself floating through soft white clouds among the deepest of blue skies. She looked up; the moon was out and shining its light over the land. Never had she seen a moon that big, or that bright. The beauty entranced her. On the surface of the moon, there lived a shadow of a cat. The shadow twisted and turned, as if moving to the rhythm of music.

Then, she heard the sound of a cat purring and her eyes flew open. She looked over at Heejin who had lied down next to her and fallen asleep, drooling on the book in between them. Hyunjin looked up at the same sky and noticed it getting a little darker.

She shook the drooling girl by the shoulder. "Heejin... Heejin..."

Heejin made a muffled sound and opened her eyes. "What? Did I fall asleep?"

"Ask your book."

"Aww..." Heejin wiped off her mouth and sat up stretching. "... afternoon laziness."

"So did you find anything?"

Heejin looked down at the book and grinned. "I think I did." She flipped a few pages back and pointed at a particular part among the many paragraphs. "You see? It doesn't go into much detail but its describing an ancient religion based around the spirits of animals and nature. It says there were even temples back then, but they were destroyed by invaders."

"You think this might be connected to your thing?"

"Maybe. It doesn't mention anything about the orbs or the moon though. Even if it did, there's not much to go off of here. I think whoever destroyed those temples probably also destroyed anything else having to do with it..."

Hyunjin sighed. It was like they had opened buried treasure and found nothing but sand. "You want to hear something weird?"

"What is it?"

"I had a dream just now. It seemed so real. I was flying in the sky..." Hyunjin closed her groggy eyes to really picture it again. "And I saw the moon... but it was bright like the sun. I saw a cat on the moon, then I heard it purr, not like a sound you hear in a dream but like an actual purr right next to my ear and woke up."

Heejin's eyes widened again as her jaw dropped.

"What is it?" Hyunjin asked. "I don't like the way you're looking at me."

"I had... the same dream. Except... I saw a rabbit in the moon with the cat. It just looked at me. I think there were doves flying next to me."

"... What?" Hyunjin couldn't move. She was unsure what the feeling rushing through her was. "What does this mean?"

"I don't—"

"Heejin what does this mean?" Hyunjin was bouncing up and down, biting her fingernails and staring at the orbs.

"Maybe..." Heejin took a moment to think. "What if they're trying to tell us something?”

"But I haven't touched the orb. How could they tell me anything?"

"I don't know. Maybe you just being close to it? Or maybe because you were touching me? But you do see what I said now right? The spirits use images. We just have to find out what it means."

Hyunjin took a long look at the orb, it began to glow a bit. A paw reached into the deepest part of her soul and dug its nails into it. "I think they want me to touch it."

Hyunjin saw the concern return to her friend's face again. She really loved how much she cared about keeping her safe, she really did, but sometimes it could a bit overprotective. Was this overprotection? How could anyone possibly overprotectsomeone from _this_?

Heejin spoke after a while, "Even if they do, I'm still not sure you should unless you're willing to accept anything that might come along with it."

"Heejin, you and I both know this whole thing would be a lot easier if the two of us had this...  _connection_ to the spirits. I think it's clear that they want someone else to touch the orb. Who else are you going to get to do it?" She wanted to just reach out and take to the orb. Why did she feel like this? There was a burning need to feel the orb against her fingers, but she respected Heejin too much to do that.

"Okay," Heejin said.

"Okay?"

"Yes. I guess we should do it... but not right now."

Hyunjin breathed heavily. This was way too much for her to take in. "Why not?"

"We should wait until the moon is out like in our dreams. That's when the silver orb was the brightest. Maybe it might limit the downsides if we do it like that, or you might have some deeper connection. What do you think?"

"O— okay... but what'll I tell my parents? They're going to be wondering where I was all day."

"Just tell them we got carried away with the studying, tell them I didn't let you go until we finished. We'll make it a sleep over like old times."

They smiled at each other as a warm breeze blew through the window.

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When Heejin's parents got home, she let them know that Hyunjin was spending the night with her. As was tradition, at sunset, they had dinner and for some reason Hyunjin felt more comfortable there than in her own. There was no one telling her to eat slower or nagging her about her school performance, plus Heejin's mother seemed especially happy that day. She even let them stay up in the castle to sleep.

The night was still warm when the sun set and the stars came out. Heejin and Hyunjin lay their backs on soft layers of bed covers, looking through the spaces among the leaves for the starlight. The moon was smiling down on them.

"Hey Heejin..."

"Yeah?"

"What do you think stars are? Are they like tiny suns or... little holes that the gods poked in the sky?"

"... when my grandpa passed away, my parents told me his soul turned into a star and went to live up there."

Hyunjin thought about that for a second. "Do you think my parents are up there? My brother?" Even the possibility of that brought a smile to her face.

"I'm sure they are."

Hyunjin tried to pick out three particular ones that she thought they would be before tears welled up in her eyes. She turned and wiped them away, hoping Heejin wouldn't see before putting on her usual face again. "When I was little, I used to think they were angels... Do you remember when we used to play royalty here?"

Heejin giggled. "And you would go on about your big hooped earrings? How could I not?"

Hyunjin sat up straight and looked down on her friend with snobbish eyes. "Well I _am_ queen Hyunjin. Loyal squire Heejin, how many times must I remind you that my big hooped earrings are no laughing matter? Now please, go fetch them for me. The day is much too short for un-pierced ears.

Heejin mimicked her posture and tongue-in cheek tone of voice. "Ah, but queen Hyunjin, you forget that I am no longer a squire but a queen of the Ulalan family. Please show me your proper respect or I will be forced to cut off your supply of bread."

Hyunjin gasped. "I am very sorry queen. It's just that... I've never seen a squire become a queen before, how ever did you achieve this?"

"Because, queen Hyunjin, I was merely in disguise. Obviously only boys can be squires. You would know that if you were running a proper kingdom."

"But this _is_ a proper kingdom. What kind of kingdom in this day and age does not allow for both boys and girls to be squires? You insult me with your intolerance queen Heejin. I will have to kindly ask you to leave my castle."

"But... this is _my_ castle."

"No... this is _my_ castle and I will have my big. Hooped. Ear-" The last words couldn't make it out before Hyunjin busted out laughing. She laughed until she was close enough to overlook a canyon of hysteria. She made sure to cherish this little moment before calming down and taking a big breath. "I think I'm ready."

Heejin nodded and placed the silver orb in between the two of them.

"Okay," Heejin said, "it's going to feel really weird. Don't get scared." She took Hyunjin's hand and gripped it tight. "Whatever happens, wherever it takes you, I'll be there."

Hyunjin nodded and puffed herself up with air before slowly breathing it out. She took her free hand and placed it on the orb.

There was a tingling sensation in her palm at first, which traveled up her arm and through her body. The orb grew brighter. Stillness overtook her body and she closed her eyes, focusing on Heejin's hand. Even with closed eyes, everything became yellow. Her body became both frozen and boiling and she felt as if she was floating. Then, she felt something in her chest, like a long lost friend and a welcome stranger. She heard the sound of a cat purr echo in her head again and she came back down to the floor.

When she opened her eyes, there was a small yellow orb lying on the floor. She took it and looked up at Heejin.

"Are you okay?" Heejin asked, "What do you feel?"

Hyunjin saw something in her eyes that she had never seen before. She couldn't speak or smile. All she could do was nod and stare. Then, it was as if the same force that had just entered her took control. She grasped the sides of Heejin's head _violently_ and pulled her in for a kiss. Their lips were locked in silence for a while, before Hyunjin felt Heejin back away slightly. Then, Hyunjin pulled herself away, shaking and covering her mouth. A cold chill rushed through her body and she felt exposed, she felt vulnerable. It was like all the lost souls in the sky were looking down on her and judging her for what she had just done, for what she promised herself she would never do.

She got up quickly and headed for the door. "I'm sorry." She didn't want to look back, her legs moved by themselves.

"Wait!" She heard Heejin's feet coming from behind but she was already on the ground and running before she could reach her. "It’s okay! Don't leave..."

Heejin's voice faded away behind her as she ran past the gate and out into the night streets. Tears were streaming down her face and she avoided the eyes of anyone she came across as she ran back uphill. Her body felt weightless and no matter how far she ran, no matter how many tears she shed, her hand was still gripped tightly around the yellow orb. The cat settled into its happy little abode.

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	3. Hyunjin II

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#  **Hyunjin II**

####  _**Kitten in the Rain** _

 

Sleep didn't exist. Food didn't exist. Nothing existed except for that kiss.

Hyunjin had ran circles in her head since she had gotten home, trying to figure out why she did what she did. It had to have been the spirit right? But why would it make her kiss her?

Hyunjin slammed her fist into her bed for the thousandth time as her face was buried in her pillow. Maybe she was being too dramatic. She just had to go back there, apologize, and explain herself. She shook her head. No, it had been too passionate, too many bottled up feelings that had escaped. They were out now, and there was no putting them back. She could barely make eye contact with a pretty face, how was she supposed to talk about them to anyone, let alone the girl they longed for?

The court jester in her mind was juggling her problems and laughing at her while she tried to sort them all out. In that moment, all she wanted to do was get away from all of it. Her soul needed some air.

Suddenly, she remembered something.

Hyunjin went through her drawers, trying to find it. It had been a while since she had left it there but it _had_ to be there somewhere. If it wasn't, she didn't know what else she would do. After searching the last drawer at the bottom of her dresser, she found it; a neatly folded piece of paper tucked in the corner behind colorful silk clothing. In flawless writing, it read:

_Dear Hyunjin,_

_How has life been treating you? I hope it hasn't been too cruel. I've been very busy lately. That's actually the reason I am writing to you now. You see, I've recently been offered a great opportunity in my career, but in order to pursue it properly I will have to move into a new home. Fortunately, I will still be in the city but it will be a much longer trip. I would like to have told you in person but I am constantly running around and I know you are focused on your school work. Anyway, I've written my new address at the bottom of this letter. I will of course completely understand any hesitation to pay me a visit but if you should, I will be available on the weekends from sunrise to noon._

_Yours truly, Haseul._

Hyunjin memorized the address at the bottom of the letter as she got herself ready. She straightened her hair and didn't bother putting on any makeup. Just by looking at the address, Hyunjin could tell it _would_ be quite a ride. She suspected it might be on the complete opposite side of the city. Even when she did get there, she wouldn't have much time to spend with her anyway. Their maid was busy cleaning in the backyard so it was the perfect opportunity to sneak out without anyone noticing before it was too late. There was no time to eat and she barely got dressed before putting the orb in her bag and heading outside.

As Hyunjin stepped out the door, she heard a sound under her shoe. She gasped before looking under and smiling. It was a small bracelet decorated with different colored beads. Luckily, she hadn't damaged it in her haste and threw it in her bag as she went through the front gate. The thought of where it came from didn't even cross her mind.

After walking over to the street corner down the hill, she whistled for a stagecoach with white and beige horses. Her parents' own personal stagecoach was busy taking them to the forum where all the bigshot politicians met, so she had to make do with what she could find. Her parents... gods have mercy on her when she returned. Hyunjin was supposed to be at home doing schoolwork until they got back; she had never really disobeyed them to this level before.

The man that offered picked her up was nice enough, so the ride there wouldn't be too bad even though the seating wasn't too comfortable. She paid him a little extra to not pick up anyone else along the way.

They rode out of the neatly paved roads and headed into the lower territories where the middle and lower classes lived, the carriage rumbling massaging her back. Hyunjin looked out at the busy streets full of exuberant youth and weary elders. She had been one of those kids living below the watchful eye of the hills, running through those same streets like a stray cat. The air was filled with the rich smell of foods on the market stands; the aroma almost yanked her through the window and sent her rushing at the nearest table, but her parents would be angry enough when she got back, there was no need for her to add needless spending on top of it all. But oh, how the aroma sang to her hollow belly, which was nagging her with much more vigor than usual.

She wondered if her younger years really were as blissful as she remembered or if there was a soft mist hiding the darkness that crept in the alleys and crumbling buildings. Maybe she should've been more thankful for the situation she was in, but that would have to come after she cleared her mind.

They rode for what must've been at least two hours before arriving. The address Haseul gave to Hyunjin led to a three story complex in a relatively calm area in the outskirts of the city, closer to the towering wall that separated them from whatever lived outside of it. The wall's shadow covered the complex. Hyunjin looked up and saw a few soldiers walking along the top of it, the rising sun turning them into silhouettes against a baby blue backdrop.

The sound of kids' laughter mingling with yells from the merchants did not travel through the wind with the same weight as the busier areas. Hyunjin thanked the man and paid him some more money to wait for her there. She didn't want to go through the trouble of finding another ride in those parts.

She went through the open white gate at the front and made her way through a small garden filled with flowers and well-cut bushes. The wooden stairs made the same creaking sound Heejin's castle did. She went up to the third floor and took a deep breath, only then realizing she hadn't prepared anything to say. The knocks on the door were soft.

The first face she saw when it swung open was a smiling, unfamiliar one with long dark hair that stared at her for a bit before politely asking who she was.

"I'm Hyunjin." She bounced on her toes, wondering if this was the right place as she looked back at the girl in front of her. "Is... does Haseul live here?"

"Oh. Yes, she does!" The vibe that came off the sweet voice practically pulled Hyunjin inside. "Are you a friend?"

Hyunjin's nod was guided by slight timidness. "An old friend."

The girl returned her nod with a look of intrigue. " _Oooohhh_... Old friend. Well, she's..." She lowered her voice, "She was _juuust_ waking up right now if you want to come in."

"Thank you." Hyunjin bowed and stepped inside of the apartment that had the aroma of some kind of fruit she couldn't quite pin down. Then, she mentally slapped herself and turned back to the girl that had let her in. "I'm sorry for not asking, but what was your name?"

"No, it's fine. My name's Yerim." She shut the door with a wide smile and led Hyunjin over to a lone couch by the balcony in the living room. "Do you want anything to drink? It must've been a long ride from the hills."

Hyunjin realized she should've worn something a little less obvious to blend in. "No thanks, I'm fine." The truth was that she actually was parched from riding in the carriage for so long, but she was a little too nervous to even drink anything.

Yerim must've somehow sensed it and handed her a cup of water anyway, still with the most welcoming smile. "Just wait here. I'll go let her know you came."

Hyunjin nodded and rocked back and forth in her seat, biting her lip and looking out the window as she downed the entire thing in one gulp. Why was she so nervous? Sure, she hadn't seen Haseul in a long time but they didn't part ways on bad terms and it's not like she was an uncomfortable person to be around. Why was she making her privileged life so much harder than it needed to be?

When Haseul came into view, it seemed as though a distant memory was plucked from her mind and planted in front of her like a lily flower. Her aura shone in the light, her short hair gleamed. "Hyunjin?" Her voice brought tears to Hyunjin's eyes.

Hyunjin stood up but wasn't sure what to do or say, so she just smiled and let Haseul wrap her arms around her. She hugged Haseul as tightly as she would hug her own childhood.

"It's been too long," Haseul said, "I wasn't sure if you would ever come. I'm sure you've met Yerim already," She looked over at Yerim and back to Hyunjin. "She practically lives here."

"Mhm. We've already met." Yerim leaned against the wall, the whole exchange filling her already bright face with more joy.

Hyunjin and Haseul sat next to each other on the couch. Hyunjin nestled in the comfort of the simplicity of the place, just like she remembered her.

Haseul gave Hyunjin a light dab on the shoulder. "So what brought you down from your castle on the hill miss Breadjin?"

Hyunjin shook her head. "Just... I finished an exam a couple of days ago and finally had some time to visit."

Yerim politely interrupted. "Hey Haseul, I'm gonna go pick up Yeojin and let you two catch up. Is that okay?"

"No problem. You remember where the school is right?"

"Yeah, I think she's old enough to find her own way home though, don't you think?"

Haseul's laugh stomped all over the apparent absurdity of the suggestion. "Find her way home or find her way into trouble. You keep a good eye on her." Yerim nodded and left the two of them alone.

"Can you believe it?" Haseul asked, "She's such a big girl now and so full of life. Wait till you see her."

"Is she as loud as I remember?" Hyunjin asked.

"No. She's probably even louder."

Hyunjin laughed. "Isn't it a little too early to be getting out of school?"

"Oh, actually Yeojin takes a Jiu-jitsu class on the weekends."

"What? Really?"

"Mhm. At first I was against it, thinking maybe she would get herself hurt. But she got her grades up so much that I was basically forced to let her do it. They insist on early classes for kids so..."

"Wow. How long has she been taking it?"

"Almost two years now. I'm always a bit tired in the mornings but Yerim practically begs me to let her take the little rascal there. The instructors say she's making really good progress. Like, 'best in the entire class' type of progress."

Hyunjin's jaw dropped a bit, feeling a bit of envy.

"There's actually going to be a city tournament in the hills three weeks from now. They invited Yeojin and a couple of others from her class. Maybe you can go watch if you're not busy."

Hyunjin wanted to blurt out that of course she would go, but she knew she might not be able to. "Yeah, maybe I will..." Then, the reason for her being there clutched her vocal chords. "Haseul, do you remember when you told me if I ever needed to talk about anything to come to you?"

Haseul's face turned to one of worry. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Well kind of, but it’s not that serious. It’s mostly just..." Hyunjin played with her fingers, trying to keep her body busy with something else besides pushing up tears. "... I have a lot of things on my mind... I know you're busy and I'm sorry if it seems I just came over to—"

"No." Haseul was dead serious. "You apologize for nothing. If there are things that are bothering you, you can always talk to me about them. I am your personal diary, remember?"

Hyunjin smiled, "Thank you. Uhh... I don't know where to... Do you remember when my family was all together and me and you would see each other every day? And I would just _do_ stuff and have fun?" Her voice began to shake and Haseul took her hands.

"I remember."

Hyunjin was trying _so_ to keep it together. "I thought I was strong, I thought I could be strong for them when I moved and I was for a while but now I feel like I'm starting to unravel. I don't know why I'm doing anything anymore."

Haseul tightened her grip on her hands. Hyunjin sniffled, staring down at the once empty cup that was now slowly being filled with tear drops. "I feel like I'm so ungrateful complaining about anything. I mean, what's there to be upset about right? I have a home, food on fancy plates every day, I go to a great school and have an amazing friend..." Her voice slipped at the last word, that last confusing word. She cleared her throat, "And still, there's this... thing in my heart. I don't know what it is but it's eating away at me." Light sobs began to escape her, and she began to loosen her resistance to them.

Haseul hugged her tight and spoke softly. "You _are_ strong. No one I know has gone through as much as you have. As far as I'm concerned, you've earned the right to be upset." They separated, still holding hands. "Have you talked to anyone about this?"

"I've tried talking to my friend about it. It helps when we spend time together but she just has a different way of looking at things than I do. She's been raised that way all of her life so I guess she's used to it."

"What about your parents?"

Hyunjin just shook her head. Her parents were more focused on her grades and their perception to others than anything going on with her feelings, she couldn't remember the last time she had ran to them with any of her problems. Maybe it was her fault, maybe if she would just make an honest attempt at connecting with them they would return the favor. She always had Heejin to talk to, but this felt like something she couldn't help with. This problem was in part about Heejin.

Haseul exhaled, as if trying to get a good handle on what Hyunjin had told her. "Have you tried meditation?"

Hyunjin raised an eyebrow at her, "No. We don't don't do that..." She let out a laugh that bumped along her uneven breathing, "Isn't that something for like, old people? I think that'll just make me think about my problems more."

Haseul stood up and closed the drapes to block the sunlight from coming in before taking her hands again. "I started meditating with Yeojin mostly to try _something_ to calm her down. It works for a little while, at least until she gets around her friends again. I think it could work for you too, alongside talking to someone about all of this."

Hyunjin nodded, placing her trust in anything Haseul suggested. "So how do we do it?"

"Well it's not that complicated. We can do it right now if you want... or we can talk about anything else you want to get off your chest first."

She considered telling Haseul about what happened between her and Heejin but decided against it. That was something that she wanted to keep between them for now. She would also have to lie to keep the orbs a secret from her; she didn't dare tell anyone about them without Heejin's permission. However, she did tell her about her troubles in school and her relationship with her parents that was probably about to grow even more deformed.

"I think it's important for you to look at it from their perspective as well," Haseul said, "As someone who is raising a child, there are reasons to be a little harsh on them, even if they don't make sense now. I think they might just want the best for you, but it's up to you to communicate with them and let them know what you want. You can't keep hiding your troubles from them, even if they aren't your biological parents. Everyone has their flaws and problems. Do you think it was easy for them to make it as far as they did being a gay couple?"

That question hit Hyunjin a little harder than she expected. It had never really lingered in her mind for as long as it did now. She remembered the first time she saw them in that orphanage, at how full of joy they looked when they saw her. Hyunjin later convinced herself that they had only adopted her because there was an uncanny resemblance between her and them. It also helped that she used to be at the top of her class consistently.

They used to show her off to their friends, almost pretending like she was their child, their actual child. They weren't always as rich as they were now... and the longer Hyunjin thought about it, about all the hard work she never saw, all the ridicule they must have faced for who they were... How much had they put up with? She thought of how embarrassed she felt the night before when she had kissed Heejin, how scared she was at the way she grabbed her. Ironically, Hyunjin was probably most afraid of what her parents would do to her if they ever found out what she did. Despite them being a gay couple, they had repeatedly tried to hammer it into her head that they did _not_ want her to be like them if she could help it. It's not that they were ashamed of who they were, it was about the way the society would treat her. That's one of the few things about her feelings she could vividly remember them discussing with her. They knew better than anyone how hard it would be on her.

Hyunjin finally shook her head. She fell quiet for a moment before trying to switch the subject. "How..." Hyunjin wanted to choose her words carefully. "Where's your boyfriend? Did he join the army?"

"Oh he's..." Haseul looked away for a second and sighed. "He's deployed beyond the wall right now. It's hard being away from him." There was a silence that overtook the room for a bit. "But he's fine. He writes to me as much as he can. You should hear all the stuff he describes. It's like a completely different world out there.

"Sounds like he's living my dream," Hyunjin joked.

Haseul let out a laugh. "You were never one to back down from a little adventure, were you?"

Hyunjin happily nodded and let another question slip out. "So how long did you know him before the two of you were..."

Haseul tilted her head a bit, trying to get a read on Hyunjin. "Three years. Why do you ask?"

Hyunjin shook her head and berated herself for even asking the question, quickly realizing she did not want to go down the path that question would lead her. "It's nothing. I'm stupid."

"No, it's okay. Is there a special someone you have feelings for?"

Hyunjin just kept shaking her head. "I don't." She felt a burning in her chest even when she lingered around the subject. "Can we— can we do the meditation thing?"

"Okay, just wait here. I'll go get some pillows to sit down on." Haseul got up and went into her room. Hyunjin knew she was just being polite, she had seen the intrigue and concern in her eyes. Once again, she berated herself. But this time, it was for _not_ telling her anything. She couldn't just keep hiding from these things, and Haseul would be the most understanding of anyone. But at the same time... there was a gripping fear of exposing those feelings, the same fear that she had felt the night before when she let them be seen. Why was she so afraid of herself?

Haseul came back with a couple of pillows and laid them on the floor before they both sat down. Hyunjin looked around before asking, "So what exactly am I supposed to be doing?"

"Just close your eyes and sit," Haseul answered, "It helps if you focus on your breathing. It's okay to have thoughts when doing it, but if you do, don't fight them. Just let them in and allow them to do what they want to. The trick is just to observe them and let them pass. Don't think you're doing anything wrong if you have unpleasant thoughts... and don't judge them. Just let them be."

Hyunjin nodded as they became quiet and closed their eyes. For a while, she only focused on her breathing and nothing else, but then was drawn to the sound of a bird singing outside. She got up and went out into the balcony, trying to sing along with it, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out.

She almost screamed as she opened her eyes and looked around her. Haseul had joined her in the meditation. Hyunjin tried to calm herself. What was that? Why did it seem so real?

Her focus shifted immediately to her bag beside her, the bag that held her yellow orb. It was calling to her. She ached to hold it in her hands.

Hyunjin carefully reached in and pulled it out, then hiding it from view by folding a part of her long skirt over her hands. She immediately felt a sense of calm vibrate through her body. There was also a hint of hesitation camping in the back of her mind, caused by what it made her do the night before. But the feeling it gave her superseded everything and put her mind at ease. She felt a little bit of her childhood restored inside her. It was her companion. As long as she had it, nothing could hurt her, she was sure of it.

Hyunjin closed her eyes again and soon found herself walking down the street on a cloudy day. Golden-haired cats ran up and down the walls of rich homes. She stopped by a puddle on a street corner and saw her reflection wave back at her; her reflection with a cat's head.

She was wearing a violet dress with beautifully stitched flowers on it. She had one like that as a kid, and it somehow fit her perfectly.

She made her way down the street before stopping at a park bench and sitting down. Hyunjin stared at the glimmering lake in front of her. She felt a haunting connection to it, as if it was made of her own tears. A blue fish jumped out and she waved at it. A swan glided along the water accompanied by a penguin and a deer.

There was a frog that jumped by her feet, a dove that landed on her arm, and a bat and owl that smiled down on her from a tree. She looked down at her other arm and noticed a blue butterfly flapping its wings. Then, the dove began singing in a voice that echoed throughout the world and pierced through the waters, bringing joy to every sea creature that lived underneath. The moon hovered in the blue sky above all of it, the same bright moon she had seen before She looked across the lake and noticed a strange figure in the woods, its eyes red and its figure hard to make out. It didn't linger long enough for her to get a good look at it.

Hyunjin then saw a rabbit scurry across the floor past her. She followed it as it went into the waiting arms of a girl sitting on a bench next to her. The girl looked back at her and smiled lovingly back at her. She seemed familiar, but no more than any of the animals that had gathered around her. Hyunjin turned her attention back to the moon and sat there for a while, admiring its beauty. Soon, she began to feel a strange attraction to it, like the feeling of a close friend pulling her arm, urging her to follow. She reached out towards the moon, in total peace as the sound of her breath became more noticeable. Someone shook her shoulder.

"Hyunjin."

She woke up to the smiling face of Haseul, feeling as though she had been pulled from a deep sleep.

"Wake up sleepy." Haseul laughed, "I were starting to get a little worried. It's almost been an hour."

Hyunjin blushed at the revelation. "Sorry, I don't know what happened."

"No, it's fine. I was debating if I should disturb you but you just seemed so calm and peaceful. I wish I could've left you like that a little longer but I'm about to go to work."

"Oh." Hyunjin nearly stood, but remembered what she had in her hand. She waited until Haseul turned around to throw it back in her bag.

"I left some food on the table for you." Haseul was talking to her from another room. "I noticed your stomach was grumbling so I don't want you leaving until you finish every last bite."

Hyunjin smiled and went over to the dining table. The food tasted just a bit sweeter. "Hey Haseul..."

"Yeah?"

Hyunjin really wasn't sure about this next question. "How would you guys like to come over to my place for dinner sometime?"

There was a bit of silence.

"If your parents are okay with it, I would love to. You have carrier pigeons right?"

"Yeah."

"I don't want to make any promises before you ask your parents. Ask them if it’s fine for me and Yeojin to go over. Then send me a letter with some days that would be good for you guys.

Hyunjin nodded and quietly finished her meal, savoring every last bite of it as best as she could.

Haseul finished getting ready and walked out of her room with a slip of paper. She folded it up and put it in Hyunjin's hands. "I wrote down the place they are holding the tournament in so you don't forget. C'mon, let's go outside and wait for them."

They made their way out and down to Hyunjin's stagecoach, waiting in the for a short while before Haseul spoke up. "As much as I enjoyed seeing you again, I don't want you pulling something like this unless your parents are fine with it, okay?"

Hyunjin nodded again before an earth-shattering scream assaulted Hyunjin's ears. She looked in the direction of the wall and noticed them coming around the corner. It was Yeojin, a much taller Yeojin wearing a white gi with a blue belt and sprinting over to them. It seemed like she was about to shout something else but froze in front of her when their eyes met.

Haseul quickly broke their eye contact. "Yeojin, do you remember who this is? She—"

Before Haseul could finish her sentence, Yeojin had ran past her and put her arms around Hyunjin. She had expected there to be a quip of some kind, a sly remark, but instead Yeojin just stood there attached like bark on a tree. Hyunjin looked over at a smiling Yerim and at Haseul who was visibly fighting back tears with a smile of her own.

"I don't want you to leave ever again." Yeojin's voice was firm, she squeezed her until Hyunjin had trouble breathing. Yerim noticed and fought to get Yeojin off of her, but she didn't go down without a fight.

"Hey! Let go, I was still hugging her!" Yeojin was hiding her face.

Yerim resorted to locking Yeojin's arms behind her back. "I think you've made your point, any longer and we would have to attend a funeral."

Yeojin still wouldn't look at anyone. This really was not what Hyunjin remembered, not in the slightest. Then, suddenly, Yeojin whipped her head around with a smile. "Haha! I fooled you all! I was obviously practicing for the school play until _Yerim_ messed it up." Yeojin wiped away her tears nonchalantly.

"You can cry on command?" Sarcasm dripped from every one of Yerim's words, "Wow, will you show us your ways lord Yeojin? For we are not worthy."

Yeojin glared at Yerim before giving all of attention back to Hyunjin, her eyes filled with hope, "Did you move back? My sister always said you wouldn't but I—"

Hyunjin shook her head, almost cringing at how Yeojin reacted to it.

"Oh. Well... a visit is the next best thing!" Yeojin chuckled nervously, "I can show you around the neighborhood and introduce my friends to my long lost sister."

"Long lost?" Yerim grinned at her, "that's a funny way of putting it, don't you think Ms. Peekaboo?"

Yeojin's gasp was full of playfulness. "Yerim. I thought I could trust you."

"What's this about?" Haseul asked.

Yerim let out an exasperated sigh. "I was waiting for her to come out with the rest of the kids for like fifteen minutes. Then when I was going inside to ask where she was, she jumped out from behind a bush and tried to scare me."

"Tried?" Yeojin asked, "You're lucky I wasn't holding any glass or we would've had a really messy situation on our hands."

"I did not scream that loud."

"Yeojin." Haseul interrupted their banter. "What did I tell you about scaring people like that?"

Yeojin sighed and rattled off an apology that sounded scripted. "I'm sorry Yerim. I promise I won't do that again."

"Good," Haseul said, "Now, I'm gonna go to work and I don't want to hear a bad word about you when you come back alright? Do you remember what we talked about?"

Yeojin sighed and recited more words. "Never go more than three blocks away from the house and never hit anyone unless they hit you first."

Haseul hugged her little sister and rubbed her hand against her scalp, messing up her already unkempt hair. "Go inside and get changed, then you and Yerim can show Hyunjin around the neighborhood. But don't take too long, she has to leave soon."

Yeojin let out a cheerful little screech before sprinting up the stairs and into their apartment. Yerim followed closely behind.

"It was really nice seeing you again," Hyunjin said to Haseul.

"Yeah well, again, I don't want you going on these cross-city adventures my mischievous little friend." Haseul pinched Hyunjin's cheek before they embraced in a warm hug as a bird sang in the distance.

Hyunjin mimicked Yeojin's voice. "I'm sorry Haseul. I promise to never do it again."

That got a laugh out of her. "Don't apologize to me. Apologize to your parents. They must be worried sick." Haseul tightened her grip around her. "Try to find a passion. Something you enjoy and that makes you happy. No matter what, you'll always have a home here."

The two separated and held hands as Hyunjin nodded. "I'll do my best."

"You have your mother's beautiful smile, you know that? Don't hide it from anyone." Haseul let go and began walking away down the street. Hyunjin thought about saying one last goodbye to her but she it was stopped by a sense of paranoia. She didn't want to take any chances of them not seeing each other again soon. She would do whatever it took to get her parents to let Haseul into their home, even if she had to get on her knees and beg.

At the street corner, Haseul spun around and shouted, "Say hi to your friend for me!"

Suddenly, Hyunjin heard steps zooming towards her and was attacked by another one of Yeojin's hugs.

"Big sister! I have to introduce you to my friends. They are going to be _so_ jealous when they find out where you're from."

So, Yeojin and Yerim took Hyunjin around the area. Yeojin did in fact introduce her to some of her friends that were waiting for her outside. Some were from her regular school, others from her Jiu-jitsu class. Hyunjin found it hard (and really annoying) to rid herself of the way she usually greeted everyone.

The little neighborhood was very friendly and it seemed like everyone knew each other. People would occasionally shout out to others from horseback, there was a gathering of people playing board games on street corners, and they even passed a soldier who greeted Yeojin and Yerim by name.

There was one person in particular that caught the most of Hyunjin's sympathy. She met her when they were at a fruit stand. It was a little girl with a ponytail that bent down next to Hyunjin and began cleaning her black shoes with a rag. Hyunjin backed away at first, unsure of what to make of her, but the little girl just scooted over and continued cleaning.

Hyunjin looked over to Yerim and she gestured back that it was okay. After the little girl was finished, she stood and raised a small wooden bowl with change in it towards her. Hyunjin froze for a bit, but pulled out a couple of copper coins, holding them up above the bowl and leaning down to try to get a better look at the little girl's face which was hidden behind her curtain of black hair. "What's your name?"

"Her name's Mi-sun." Yeojin snatched the coins from Hyunjin and dropped them in the bow. "She doesn't talk."

"Thank you very much, Mi-sun." Yerim patted her on the head. "You did a _very_ good job."

Hyunjin watched the girl walk away as silently as she had arrived, becoming another solemn face among the crowd. "How do you know her name if she doesn't talk?" Hyunjin asked them.

"Well she _used to_ talk," Yeojin answered.

Yerim shook her head. "She had such a pretty voice, but one day it's like she just forgot how to. No one knows what happened."

Hyunjin looked down at her shoes, thinking back to the days when she and her friends would run through the streets, not worrying about how dirty they would get. Then, out of pure instinct, Hyunjin ran in the direction of Mi-Sun. She heard Yeojin's voice following behind her but didn't bother to turn around. She weaved in and out through the people, trying to find her. She eventually did find her, kneeling next to a man sitting on a bench next to a jewelry stand.

She politely waited until the girl was done before kneeling down herself and pulling out the bracelet she had found earlier. "Do you know what this is?"

Mi-Sun stared at the bracelet hanging in front of her for a bit before shaking her head.

"It's a very special bracelet. It's got all the colors of the rainbow on it. Some say it even fell from the sky. I want you to have it." Hyunjin dropped the bracelet into Mi-Sun's bowl and then pulled out a few silver coins, dropping them in as well. Mi-Sun simply looked down at her them, then up at Hyunjin and bowed before once again leaving them in haste.

"Aw, that was _so_ nice," Yerim said, "Usually people don't give her anything, let alone a pretty bracelet and silver coins."

Hyunjin smiled and double-checked to make sure she still had enough for the ride home before noticing Yeojin looking at her expectantly.

"So where's _my_ gift?"

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The girls spent the better part of the next hour walking around the neighborhood and looking through the various stands in a crowded street protected by tarps overhead. Hyunjin had to restrain herself from buying all of the delicious-smelling food she came across. But as much as she was enjoying being away from home, Hyunjin couldn't help but notice the look in some of the people's eyes that passed them by. Their faces were imperfect, they had scars, they were a bit dirty, their clothing was messier, and their eyes held mysteries she felt she once knew the answers to. They looked at her like she was some angel who had fallen out of the skies but were too afraid to approach. Hyunjin couldn't shake the feeling that the looks instilled in her. She was a complete foreigner to them, and they were foreign to her. The roots she thought bound her to those parts felt like they had been broken.

Yeojin and Yerim led her back to her stagecoach and each gave her a hug. Yeojin hung on as if her life depended on it. "Did my sister tell you about my tournament?"

Hyunjin nodded down at the little bundle of joy wrapped around her waist.

"Good. I want you to come and watch and cheer me on okay?"

"I'll try my hardest, I promise." Hyunjin hated the feeling of filling her with uncertainty, but it was better than filling her with false hope. She climbed onboard the stagecoach, waving goodbye to them as it began to move.

"It was nice meeting you!" Yerim shouted, her voice dancing through the drizzle that began to fall.

Hyunjin expected Yeojin to shout something as well but instead she just waved, a melancholic expression taking over her. Then, just as she was about to turn the corner, Yeojin hugged Yerim and buried her face in her taller friend's comfort. Hyunjin continued to wave before they turned that corner and she looked down at the dirty floor that now kept her company. Emptiness began to overtake her.

"There's a blanket under the seat there if you're cold." This was the first time Hyunjin had heard the driver's voice.

She took the blanket and set it on her lap before looking back at the driver and offering him the blanket. "You can have it if you want. I wouldn't want you to get all wet from taking me around the city all day."

"It's fine. I've seen much worse." The driver looked back at her and pulled up a panel in the opening between them so no water could get on Hyunjin.

She sat there for a while just looking out the window, towards the graying skies and falling rain. It wasn't long before the orb was in her grasp again. Every time she held it, the world was filled with color. Hyunjin took a really good look at it for the first time, running her thumbs up and down the engraving of the crescent moon.

She inhaled deeply, loving the feeling it filled her with. It was the same primal, fuzzy feeling that she felt the night before. She could hear a faint cry coming from inside the orb, the cry of a kitten. Soon, her hands were running over the orb's surface as if petting it.

"It's okay," she whispered, "it's only rain. It can't hurt you." As the rain picked up, Hyunjin leaned her head against the window, the sound of it smacking against the glass soothed her. She closed her tired eyes for a while and just listened. When she finally opened them again, she saw something that took her breath away.

It was a family of four waving to her on the corner; a mother, a father, a boy, and a girl. The girl was the only one of the four not paying attention to her, all of it was being given to the golden kitten in her arms. She couldn't make out their faces but they did look an awful lot like...

"Stop!" Hyunjin yelled out to the driver and he immediately slowed the horses down to a halt.

Hyunjin threw open the door, almost hitting an oncoming horse. "Wait here please!"

She dropped the orb in her bag and threw the blanket over her head, rushing through the cold rain. Heading for the corner where they had been waving at her a moment ago. All she found was wet pavement and the confused eyes of onlookers.

"Excuse me," she told the first person she could find, "Was there a little girl with a cat here just now? Do you know where she went?"

The old lady just shook her head, her face colored in confusion.

Hyunjin paced down the street, looking around for any sign of where they could've gone. She was going crazy, she knew it. Her clothes were getting soaked and she was chasing ghosts.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something. In a dark alley beside her, she saw something small moving in the shadows. As she approached it... and its shape, its color became clearer to her... her eyes began to well up. At her shivering feet there lay a golden kitten.

Hyunjin kneeled down. She felt its pain. It burned her soul. The poor thing was suffering.

"Mom? Dad? Little brother?" The mask that had been put on her for as long as she could remember finally began to crack and tears poured through. Her wet hands covered her face as she wept into them, unable to control her breathing. She wept so long that pretty soon she couldn't tell the difference between her tears and the falling rain, if there was any.

The dirty, agonizing pain pinned underneath formality and disguise began to be washed in the cold rain. She began to feel a newfound sense of determination and acceptance. In the kitten's eyes, she saw her years of unspoken pain looking back at her and telling her everything was okay. She was okay, she had the strength in her to be who she was. Swimming in the dark pools of the kitten's eyes, she found a small but bright, shimmering light of clarity. She wanted to hold hands with her inner child and walk towards woman she knew she could be, who she _had_ to be. It didn't matter how Heejin or her parents responded, she owed it to herself to be honest and open with them. It's what _they_ would want her to do.

Hyunjin took the shivering kitten into her arms and wrapped it in her blanket. But as she stood up, she heard the sound of footsteps coming behind her.

Hyunjin spun around. Everything became dark.

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	4. Heejin II

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_"One odd summer's day, I came across a river that ran between two cities. An elder in one of them mentioned that it had once been the meeting place of animals. The river was now a border. Blood had been spilled in countless battles in the never ending conflict between the two sides. I conveyed my condolences, saying things should not be that way. The elder replied that things were that way because humans are simply acting according to their nature. Animals kill animals, humans kill humans._

_He sat there with a katana at his hip, face covered in scars, mourning his lost loved ones. I sit here with a quill in my hand, smiling down on my baby in her blissful innocence, too afraid to cross the rickety bridge over to the same conclusion."_

_\- Hwa Kyu-Ri, "The Places I've Been," Old Era: Year 36 (Seondeok Library copy)._

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#  ** Heejin II **

####  _**Down the Winding Road of her Beloved** _

 

 

Seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours.

Heejin lost track of how long she had been waiting in front of her gate. Even through the rain, she decided to stand under a nearby tree instead of going inside, no matter how many times Hyunjin's parents begged her to.

The raindrops felt like stones being cast down from gods. Why were they angry? Were they punishing them for playing around with things they weren't supposed to?

Eventually, the rain calmed and the sun began to set along with the last remnants of her optimism. Hyunjin's parents joined her outside, and eventually her own parents came by after getting worried of how long she had been there. They reassured Naeun and Seolhyun that they would do anything and everything in their power to help.

They all stood outside as the rain stopped, silently waiting for her, unsure of what to do. Heejin had long ago gone to every nearby home and asked if they had seen her. Only one family said they spotted her walking down the street earlier in the day, but that was it.

What if she really did run away and was never coming back? No, Hyunjin would never do that to her. Heejin didn't want the thought to even have a chance of festering. After a while of standing and waiting, she got lost in sentimental memories, staring down at the wet pavement and hearing the hooves of horses passing by. She couldn't stop thinking about the night before.

It was all her fault. She should've chased after her and hugged her, consoled her. But if she was honest with herself, maybe the biggest obstacle that stood in her path was her own fear. Fear of the looking deep inside herself, fear of possibly breaking her heart if Hyunjin's feelings for her really did echo the words of romantic sonnets she and her had lost sleep studying during countless summer nights.

A sign of hope finally arrived when the evening was its quietest. It came in the form of a beige and white horse. The stagecoach and its young driver rolled up to them and waved at them politely before hopping down and bowing.

"Good evening everyone. I was told that this is where Kim Hyunjin lives."

"Yes it is!" Heejin almost tackled the man when she heard those words.

"Who are you?" Seolhyun asked, "Do you know what happened to her?"

"My name is Junseo. I normally don't speak on the personal lives of my customers but this situation is serious so I got here as fast I could. I picked up Hyunjin, your..."

"Daughter." Naeun finished.

"My apologies. I picked up your daughter Hyunjin in the morning and she gave me an address of where she wanted me to drive her to. It was on the opposite side of the city."

Oh no. Heejin did not like the sound of where this was going. Why would she want to go to the opposite side of the city? Heejin knew must've missed her old life but never did she think it would lead to her run away like this. And why was the situation serious? What was the situation?

"She was visiting an old friend who's name is Jo Haseul. She spent the day with her and her little sister and her friend. I've taken the liberty of writing the information down for you." Junseo handed Seolhyun a slip of paper with scribbled characters. Heejin rushed over and took a peek at the names. They read:

 _Jo Haseul_  
Jo Yeojin  
Choi Yerim

There were a couple of addresses at the bottom of the page as well.

The driver continued. "I picked her back up later that day and we were headed back here but out of nowhere she screamed at me to stop and ran out into the rain like... I don't know. It seemed like she had seen something, she... went into an alley and that's the last time I saw her."

"I don't understand," Naeun said,"What do you mean that was the last time you saw her?"

"I'm sorry miss but I waited for her for a few minutes before going to check on her and when I did there was no one there. I believe it was a kidnapping of some kind. That second address is where she—"

"Why?" Heejin couldn't hold back her emotions, she could barely even begin to form a coherent sentence. "Why would you let her, I mean... how could people let that happen?"

"It was raining and there weren't many people out in the street. Whoever did this must've followed us and known she belonged to a rich family. It wasn't exactly hard to tell. As for me, like to give my customers respect and privacy. What they choose to do is none of my business. Like I said, that second address is where I last saw her. I've already reported it to the authorities, I just wanted to personally come here and let you know and offer any help since a missing child will probably not be high on their list of priorities."

"Well we'll _make it_ be high on their list of priorities." Naeun spoke with ferocity that Heejin had never even come close to hearing out of either of them.

"If you ever decide to take me up on the offer," Junseo said, "I also wrote my own address on the back there. I'm gone most days but you can let my wife know you came asking about Hyunjin and I'll be over as soon as possible."

"Thank you." Seolhyun took the man's hands and bowed.

Heejin watched as Hyunjin's parents leaned on one another. Much like them, she couldn't find any words in this situation. The most trouble Heejin had had ever dealt with had to do with picking out clothes or rehearsing a speech of some sort. She should've tried to be more understanding of Hyunjin's situation. Why did she have to be so stupid?

"What do you want to do next?" Heejin's father asked. He was a forty-something, bearded man named Jinul. Heejin didn't see him as much as she saw her mother. He was a very busy man, but she was thankful that he was always there to support her whenever he could.

"What would you recommend us to do?" Seolhyun asked him, seemingly at a loss for words.

Jinul put a hand on his chin. "I can send a couple of my best men down there to investigate. If nothing comes up, then I would recommend hiring a private investigator."

"That sounds good Jinul," Seolhyun said, taking a big breath, "We would appreciate it if you kept a close eye on this for us. I was not about to put my trust into law enforcement of the lower territories to get this solved with any kind of quickness."

"As you shouldn't," Jinul replied. Heejin had hated the fact that her father worked in law enforcement for most of her life, but it was a blessing of the highest order at a time like this. Maybe everything happens for a reason.

Naeun bowed to Heejin and her parents. "Thank you for your help and concern. We'll be sure to keep you informed on what happens... and Heejin..."

"Yeah?"

"We would like to speak with you in private, if it's alright with your parents."

"Of course!" Heejin's mother, Seung-hee, was quick to answer. "We'll be waiting right here for you, sweetie."

With that, Heejin followed Seolhyun and Naeun into their lavish home, climbing up the steps and pushing past the wooden doors onto a polished checkerboard floor. There were paintings of Hyunjin's parents from before she lived with them, when she was a child, and the present. It seemed as time progressed, the less and less happy Hyunjin became.

Heejin was led into their dining room, where a long empty table was standing. She took a seat across from them and waited for them to speak.

"Heejin..." Naeun began, "we wanted to ask you a few questions. About you and Hyunjin."

"Sure. Anything."

"We wanted to ask you in private because we feel like you might give us a more truthful answer if you're away from your parents." Seolhyun interlocked her fingers and rested her chin on them. "You have our word, anything you tell us will be between us alone and and no one else."

Heejin nodded slowly, feeling a little unease at the wording of it all. "You have my trust."

"Heejin," Naeun said, "are you and Hyunjin... romantically involved?"

Heejin felt the her, " _NO,"_ shield rising up but she stopped it halfway up, swallowing hard. They obviously were not, but with what had happened the night before, she felt like she owed it to them to tell them at least that. Still, the words were stuck in her throat and she would have to fight hard to bring them up.

Naeun added, "We're asking because last night Hyunjin came home late. She barely talks to us, but last night she was just so... _upset_ like we've never seen her before. She went straight into her room with tears in her eyes and locked the door. She wouldn't open it for anyone."

"Since she spent the whole day with you," Seolhyun said, "we were thinking the only thing that could make her that upset would be if something happened between the two of you. Gods know she wouldn't be that upset over anything to do with schoolwork. Please Heejin..." She took Heejin's hand and looked into her eyes. "We need you to tell us the truth. What was it that happened to her that made her upset enough to run off?"

Oh boy. Heejin really had to ponder this question. " _What should I tell them?"_ She asked herself. Should she definitely tell them about the kiss and her running away, but would it make sense without mentioning the orbs? Heejin began playing with her fingers and looking away, trying to find the right way to approach this. Hyunjin's safety was more important than the orbs, but if the police couldn't find anything then they may be the only way for them to find her.

"Heejin?"

She looked up and took a deep breath. "We're not in a... relationship. But something did happen between us."

"What was it?" Naeun asked.

"Well, we were studying at my house and it was getting pretty late. I was the one who convinced Hyunjin to stay. She was supposed to spend the night and—" Heejin inhaled, her breath becoming unsteady as she tried to not break down into tears. "And she um... kissed me."

She didn't even want to look up at them. The embarrassment was uncomfortable even when the subject of love came up with her parents, talking about it with Hyunjin's parents along with everything else going on made it almost unbearable.

"And what happened next?" She heard Seolhyun ask.

"It's my fault. I was confused. I told her to leave." Heejin felt dirty. "She seemed scared and— It's my fault, I should've—"

"You should've nothing," Seolhyun interrupted, "You did nothing wrong."

Heejin shook her head. "No, but I did. She just looked so confused and scared and I let her go."

"I wonder what could've caused it," Naeun wondered aloud.

"What do you mean?" Heejin asked.

"I mean that you and Hyunjin have been friends ever since we moved here. Maybe she did have feelings for you all along but... why now? Are you sure nothing else happened? Did she say anything weird?"

Heejin felt her whole body become warm and her cheeks must've turned into a pair of ripe apples. She had to think of something quick, something believable.

"Hyunjin had been telling me..." she began, "about how she felt..." Heejin wrestled with the words she was about to let out. Her parents would kill her if they ever caught wind of them. It was really a subject she wanted to let Hyunjin discuss with her parents but at this point, she had to face the possibility of her never getting the chance to do so. The thought alone drove Heejin forward and lifted her head high. There was a small flame of anger that cracked under her speech. "She felt the two of you had not been treating her well."

She did _not_ just say that.

Hyunjin's parents didn't respond. Their looks began to wander a bit, she could feel them waiting for her to finish saying what she had to say.

Heejin looked up at another family painting that hung on the wall behind them, every one of their faces emotionless as they posed. "I don't blame you if you never noticed. Ever since I met her, she's always been great at hiding her pain behind her smile. That's one of the things I love most about her. Whenever I would be having a bad day, she would always be there to cheer me up." Heejin caught herself speaking of her in the past-tense and refused to let it continue, instead wanting to hear what they had to say. "How often has she talked to you about how she felt? Not about anything having to do with school or anything else but just her as a person?"

"Hyunjin's never wanted to talk with us," Seolhyun answered, "It's like you said. She always has a jovial attitude, which is why last night was so confusing to us. We actually saw tears on her face for the first time since we met her in the orphanage... but she wouldn't talk to us. She wouldn't talk to anyone. It's hard to know why someone's hurting when they're doing their best to convince you otherwise."

"It's impossible," Naeun added.

Heejin decided it would be the best time to ask. "Did you ever think she liked girls?"

"That's..." Naeun stopped for a moment, giving her wife a look, "That's not something she ever liked to talk about."

"Mhm." Seolhyun continued, "But if you held a sword at our necks, we would've guessed she was gay for a little while now."

"Why is that?"

"Are you familiar with Young-Hwan from the seventh Hu family?" Seolhyun asked.

"Of course. What about him?" Heejin had never met them, but it would have been hard for her not to know who they were. They were one of the families who lived near the tops of the hills, a family Heejin's would kill to be able to meet and befriend.

"Well there was a party a couple of years ago that they invited us to. We thought it would be a great opportunity for Hyunjin and him to get to know each other. Everything seemed to be going well and Hyunjin said she had fun but then we got a letter from them the next day that told us that they didn't want to see us in their home ever again."

Heejin furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "... I don't understand."

"We still don't either," Naeun said, "Young-Hwan got engaged not too long after. I've always had a sneaking suspicion that he really liked Hyunjin and she rejected him for whatever reason." Heejin noticed a bit of annoyance in her voice come through, but she continued as if nothing happened.

"After that, Hyunjin mostly mingled with girls at the parties we went to but she eventually stopped wanting to go. There was always some excuse like she wasn't feeling well or she needed to study. We figured if she really didn't want to interact with other people, it was best to just let her be than to force her to do anything and end up giving a bad impression to the other families."

"It happened this morning too," Seolhyun said, "We never take her to the forum but just seeing how she was, we asked her if she wanted to come with us and she said no... said she needed to study to get her grades up."

Heejin mulled over what they said for a little while, thinking back to what Hyunjin had told her that night under the tree, when she said she wished someone would whisk her away. "So... after thinking that she might be gay, did you still plan on marrying her to a guy?"

The two of them just looked at her like it was the most obvious question they had ever been asked.

"Of course," Seolhyun answered, "Why wouldn't we?"

"But..."

"Heejin, you're a smart girl," Seolhyun said, "You should know by now that marriage is just another part of the game. If you knew how many rumors we've heard of people being in relationships with someone they weren't married to, your head would explode. You'll be hard pressed to find any girl willing to come out as gay, let alone having their parents be okay with them marrying another girl. And even if that happened, the chances that they would be from a family equal or higher-ranking than us are slim at best. The world is not going to wait around for Hyunjin. It's not going to care about how she really feels. All we can do is put her in the best position to succeed and prosper in life."

Naeun held Seolhyun's hand. "We faced too many things to talk about all of our life but we stuck through it and here we are. Those same people that cursed our names and wished death on us would be lucky to even have the opportunity to grovel at our feet now."

Heejin felt a cold chill run down her spine at the sound of those words.

"It wasn't easy," she continued, "We had to work hard and put up with so much and we still are. We would love it for our daughter to be happy with whoever she wants to be with, but unfortunately the world just doesn't work out that way sometimes.

All Heejin could do was give a weak, understanding nod to everything they said. But even though she understood where they were coming from, the flame of anger still burned inside of her. Things should not be this way, no one should be afraid to come out to others for fear of what they might say or do. With that thought as the soil, another thought grew from it, shaped like an innocent white rose. She pushed herself to ask it.

"What if... what if another girl w-was open to marrying her? One that was worthy of her and from a good family?"

"Heejin..." Seolhyun began with a melancholic smile, "Gods be good, if we ever find our daughter... and she tells us that that's what she wants us to do, then we'll gladly make that exception for you."

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Heejin couldn't sleep. She stared up into the dark abyss where she imagined her ceiling to be, holding tight onto her pink orb. No matter how deep the hole in her heart was, all she had to do was hold it in her hands and she could feel her, she knew she was out there somewhere. Like holding Hyunjin's little heart beat.

After hours of staring up at the darkness, eventually she began to see her face looking down at her in a golden glow. It was still, as if frozen in time, eyes closed, mouthless, expressionless. Heejin squeezed the orb so tight that her hands began to shake, just like her lips. She allowed her eyes to water.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "You don't deserve any of what has happened to you. I know you're scared and all I want to do is take you into my arms and never let you go. I want to take care of you, I want to see you again. Please tell me where you are so I can see you again." Heejin's voice rose above a whisper, but she didn't care.

Hyunjin's eyelids slowly opened, revealing the yellow pupils of a cat behind them.

Heejin grew silent, simply staring up at her, waiting to see if she would do anything else. After a while, the cold reality dawned on her that this was just another vision given to her by her spirit, maybe in an attempt to comfort her, she wasn't going to respond.

Instead of continuing to torture herself, she forced herself to let go of the orb and close her eyes, thinking of what Hyunjin's parents had said to her.

Those words had been running around in her head ever since she left their home. When Heejin's parents asked what the three of them had talked about, Heejin just said she told them about what they did the day before. Never did she mention the kiss or the orbs, just that Hyunjin had spent all day studying with her and then for some reason decided to leave. Why? Heejin didn't know. Heejin didn't need to know. Hyunjin's parents had made it clear to her before she left that they would never mention anything about their conversation. She put her trust in them enough to lie to her parents. However much it may have torn her up inside, it was quickly cured by her newfound hope that what they said could become a reality if she got along well with them.

It had just been innocent little question right? She never suggested that Hyunjin's parents choose her as Hyunjin's bride-to-be. What would her own parents even think of it? For one, Heejin's mother seemed like she would be happy for her, maybe a little worried, if her teasing was anything to go by. But what about her father? She couldn't even begin to know where he stood on the matter. He was a very strict and demanding person, being chief of a big police division would do that to you. Heejin knew it had to be part of the reason why she had become such a hard-working and successful student. The thought of him reacting negatively to it almost scared her, but she knew it would be balanced by the opportunities that would be presented to him.

The more she thought about it, the more it made sense beyond the fluffy, feel-good story of two childhood friends ending up together. Heejin's family had been a bit stagnant on the proverbial class ladder for a little while, trying to befriend the right people and pushing Heejin to work hard and make something of herself. The opportunity to marry their child to someone like Hyunjin wouldn't be a bad idea, even if she was a step daughter. Just having their name permanently tied to people on the level of Hyunjin's parents would make it worth it.

From the perspective of Hyunjin's parents, marrying her to Heejin was a little smarter. Heejin knew there was more to this than they were letting on. They were too savvy of politicians to ever show their true hand but she was confident she had figured it out. The work Heejin's father had put in to gain their favor had paid off and they even trusted him enough to let him oversee the investigation. The two of them obviously thought highly of him, they wouldn't even dare to take the risk if they weren't sure the girl they were marrying their daughter off to didn't have a strong family backbone behind her.

Since Hyunjin wasn't born into nobility, it would be hard for them to find anyone above them willing to get married to her. It also seemed like they were disillusioned with thoughts of Hyunjin ever rising to be someone of higher status, it just didn't seem like she _wanted_ to. Heejin and Hyunjin's marriage would not only be the best for her happiness, but it would secure their relationship with the police force and give them more influence over it than maybe any other of their political friends. Not only that, but having their names tied to someone at the academic level and trajectory that Heejin was on would almost make Hyunjin's school troubles an after-thought. However high Heejin went, it would only reflect back positively on them. Heck, if Hyunjin cared even half as much as what her kiss suggested, her grades would ascend to the stars the minute she heard of the news.

This way, her parents wouldn't have to worry about her having a bad marriage with some random person and possibly end up depressed and getting divorced because of it. Taking a chance on this just to avoid having something like that associated with them was worth the gamble.

Even with all of that, Heejin still knew it wouldn't be an ordinary relationship. Not in the slightest. There would be many hardships they would have to fight together, but Heejin was more than ready to face them. But before any of that could happen, she needed to find her. Those words echoed in her mind as she dozed off into sleep.

"I need to find her, I need to find her..."

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The next day at school was the slowest day of her life.

Heejin felt broken without Hyunjin beside her. Not only that, but as the day progressed, her body ached to hold onto the orb. She had experienced the feeling before, but never with this intensity. It was like walking in a barren wasteland, your body crying for water, seeing mirages.

Heejin couldn't pay attention to anything for more than a second, the words on the paper became jumbled and her writing became fractured. She needed it to function. She needed Hyunjin by her side.

When her friends at lunch asked her where Hyunjin was, she didn't have an answer. Some suggested that she had dropped out, but Heejin quickly shot that down, though her demeanor probably convinced them they were right in their assumption.

After school, she raced home, bursting through the door, ready to head up to her room, but was stopped by her mother's voice.

"Heejin, could you come her for a second?" She called from the kitchen.

Seconds tended to turn into several minutes or more with her mother.

"Just a minute!" Heejin went up the winding marble steps, her shoulder brushing against flowers basking in the dim sunlight on the windowsill. She almost didn't care if she knocked them down or not.

She went into her room, locking her door and and _diving_ onto the queen-sized bed. She pulled one of the pillow covers off and put her hand into the slit she had cut into the back of it, pulling out the pink orb and curling into a fetal position with it.

Heejin felt her chest open up and she could finally breathe. She lay there for longer than a minute, _much_ longer, just breathing and feeling the energy it filled her with. She stared at the orb for a good while before whispering, "where are you?"

There was a knock at the door. "Heejin?" The muffled voice of her mother called from the other side. "Are you busy? Why is the door locked?"

Heejin scrambled to put the orb back inside the pillow and set everything up the way she left it in the morning. Then, she went over to the door and let her mother in.

"A minute huh?" Seung-hee took her daughter's hand and they both sat down on the edge bed. "How was school today?" She asked in a soft voice.

Heejin cleared her throat, taking a deep breath. "Okay I guess."

"Oh, honey..." Her mother brushed part of her hair back. "You know your father is doing everything he can to find her. I'm sure it won't be long until this is all just seems like a long, weird dream."

Heejin nodded, waiting for her mother to tell her the rest of what she needed to tell her. She heard the sound of paper and looked over to see an envelope in her hand.

"This came for you today. It's from Hyunjin's friend, Haseul."

Heejin's eyes widened as she took the envelope into her anxious hands and carefully tore it open. The writing was impeccable, Heejin was amazed by how perfect every character was.

"Do you want me to give you some privacy?" Her mother asked.

"No. I want to read it together."

So, Seung-hee wrapped her arm around her daughter's waist as Heejin read the words.

_Dear Heejin,_

_It pains me that this is our first way of communicating. I will skip the formalities. I heard about what happened yesterday and my heart became frozen. Hyunjin and I grew up together until the unfortunate passing of her family. Her step parents tell me that you have been by her side for most of the time since then, so even though we do not know each other yet, I hope our heavy hearts can lean on one another and help each other deal with this horrible situation._

_Hyunjin's parents have invited me to their home to speak with them, they were even gracious enough to offer to pay for any expenses in my travel. I will be there this evening. I am writing this letter to you in hopes that you and your family will be gracious enough to come over and perhaps invite me into your home. I know I am the farthest thing from nobility, as is my sister, but I would appreciate it very much if you would grant us your blessing as Seolhyun and Naeun have. I have some things I would like to discuss with you._

_Sincerely, Haseul._

Heejin stared at the letter for a good while after finishing, searching for something to say. "... we're inviting her."

"I'll have to talk about it with your father."

"But mom—"

"You know how he is with our traditions, sweetie. Don't worry, I'll try to get him to make an exception for the girl." She patted her on the head and brushed her hair. "Were you going to return those books you have downstairs?"

Heejin sighed. "Yeah, think you can help me with them?"

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"I'm sorry dear, but I can't do it." Jinul sat at the dining table across from Seung-hee and Heejin with some papers in his hands. "I already told one of my men to go over later and question her. There's no need to invite her into our home."

It was about an hour away from when Haseul said she would arrive at Hyunin's home and Heejin was stressing. After she and her mother came back from returning the books from the library, she had spent most her time in her room with the orb.

She tried anything she could to try to connect with Hyunjin; reciting random words she thought sounded magical, squeezing it as hard as she could, she even tried spinning it in the air and guessing locations where Hyunjin could be. If it landed with the engraving up, it meant that she might there. She was losing her mind. She needed to talk to Haseul personally.

"This isn't about the investigation, dear," Seung-hee said, "Heejin wants to talk to her because she's one of Hyunjin's closest friends."

"Being friends with Hyunjin doesn't give her the right to come into our home." He looked at Heejin, his demeanor softening. "If you really want to talk with this girl, you can go over later with your mother and talk to her there."

Heejin smiled widely, knowing this was the best she was ever going to get from her father. She ran around the table and gave him a big hug, kissing him on the cheek before clearing her throat and bowing. "Thank you father, this means a lot to me."

With her father's approval, Heejin raced upstairs and picked out the least wealthy-looking outfit she could from her closet: a simple pink blouse with a long white skirt and white shoes. She let her hair down past her shoulders like she had heard everyone in the lower territories did, trying to make Haseul feel comfortable around her.

When the time came, Seung-hee accompanied her and the two walked over to Hyunjin's home. Heejin was a bit surprised to see someone standing outside the gate, not because the person was unrecognizable, but because it was a man. A titan at that, armed with a katana at his side, standing up straight in his blue leather outfit, as if he was in a formation, awaiting orders from some imaginary commander.

They both approached him and bowed. Heejin noticed he mother look up to the man in shock as she smiled. "Tae-Won?" She asked, "What are you doing here?"

The man's voice shook the air. "Seung-hee! It's been a long time. You look lovely, is this Heejin?"

Her mother nodded. "Yes, this is my Heejin. Heejin, this is an old friend of mine, we used to go to school together."

"Nice to meet you sir." Heejin found it a bit strange for a man of his size to not be out fighting in the war like most men but decided it would be disrespectful to bring it up at the moment.

"So they decided to hire you?" Seung-hee asked.

"Yes... well actually, I was assigned to protect the Kim family by queen Jeongyeon after what happened so I'll be here for the near future. I'm sorry if you wanted to go inside and talk to them but they have requested that I not allow any visitors until after dinner. They hope you understand."

Heejin did. They wanted to talk with Haseul privately with no interruptions. "We actually had business with Haseul," she said.

"She should be arriving shortly. You're welcome to wait here until then but I'm afraid you won't have much time to speak with her. I will have to escort her in as soon as she gets here."

Heejin once again found herself waiting outside of Hyunjin's home with her mother, looking down the hill for any sign of a stagecoach. This time, she didn't have to wait long. She immediately recognized the stagecoach that Haseul was riding in, quite a bit cheaper in appearance than any she was used to.

Without hesitation, she took off down the street, ignoring her mother. She matched the horses' trotting speed and jogged alongside the stagecoach, waving inside at the two people riding. Her words became a bit broken by her panting. "Hello, are you Haseul?"

The girl's— who was she kidding? The woman's eyes widened and her head shook a bit, as if taken aback by Heejin's informality. "Are you... I— hey stop the wagon!"

The driver did as he was told, and pulled over to the side as Haseul leaned over the window. "Are you Heejin?"

"Yes!" Heejin bowed, still panting and silently cursing the steep incline. "It is very nice to meet you Haseul. And your little sister as well."

Haseul then opened the shoddy wooden door and stepped out onto the sidewalk with her shorter sister. Both of them were dressed much more nicely than Heejin had expected. They were both wearing long-sleeved white blouses matched with long red skirts that stretched to their ankles. Heejin was immediately enamored with Haseul's short, straight hair, a style she had rarely seen pulled off so well. Yeojin's was a much different style, a beautiful bun in the back with a red hair pin in the shape of a dragon going through it.

They were both beautiful, Heejin thought. It was obvious that they were taking this very seriously and weren't trying to come off as typical commoners.

"We can walk from here." Haseul handed the driver some money. "Thank you." The driver bowed his head and made his way up the hill as Haseul turned to face Heejin, also bowing. "It's so nice to meet you, Heejin. I just wish it was under better circumstances... This is my sister, Yeojin."

"Hi." Yeojin stuck her hand up as Haseul put a hand on her shoulder, prompting Yeojin to follow suit with the bowing. Heejin could feel the annoyance all over the smaller girl's face.

"It's nice to meet you too," Heejin said, "Hyunjin's parents are waiting for you, if you want to follow me."

Heejin began to lead them up the hill as Haseul asked her a question. "I take it you got my letter?"

"Yes, I did. But unfortunately, my... customs don't allow us to invite you into our home because—"

Yeojin cut her off. "Because we're po—"

" _Low-class_ ," Haseul interrupted, "It's fine. Maybe after dinner we can talk? Is there somewhere where the two of us can have some privacy?"

Heejin searched her mind for an answer, but could not think of one at that moment. "I'll think about it and let you know after you guys are done."

Heejin's mother introduced herself to them as well and apologized for her daughter's "well-intentioned rudeness," which Haseul brushed off. Tae-Won escorted Haseul and Yeojin inside, leaving Heejin and her mother to wait for them as the sun continued to make its was down the darkening horizon.

"They seem nice," Seung-hee said, "and really pretty. Such a shame they live where they do."

"Mother," Heejin began, managing to think of a good place, "do you think you the theater by our house would be a good idea?"

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They sat down at a table in the corner of a theater that was filled with customers. Her father was friends with one of the people who owned the place, so they got a little discount whenever they showed up. Heejin had already seen the play they were about to perform many times, a lot of times with Hyunjin. It was alright, but at the same time, the furthest thing from her mind at the moment. The curtains of the stage wouldn't open for a bit, so Heejin and Haseul would have plenty of time to talk. Heejin's mother and Yeojin were sharing another table in another part of the room, and it didn't take long for Heejin to realize she wasn't a typical girl.

"Is your sister always this... fidgety?" Heejin asked.

"She's just a little excited," Haseul answered, "She's done a little bit of acting in her school and we've never been to a theater before."

A waitress in a burgundy dress came over and set a couple of cups of water down of the table. "Can I get you girls anything?"

"No thank you," Heejin said, "we're just here to watch the show."

The waitress bowed and left them alone, continuing to make her way around the room.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Heejin asked.

Haseul shook her head back and forth, sighing and taking a good look at her. "Everything, if I could."

Heejin understood that there was too many things on her mind, they had that in common, even if they didn't know each other well. She remembered the, _"I have many things I would like to discuss with you,"_ on the letter and decided to begin with that. "I'm curious why you wanted to talk to me specifically. I know I'm her closest friend but Hyunjin probably—" she froze for a second. Had Hyunjin told her about the kiss? About the orbs? Is that why? She regained her composure. "Wait, what exactly did Hyunjin tell you about me— about us?"

"You don't need to get nervous," Haseul said. Heejin imagined that line would have normally been tinged with playfulness but neither of them could decorate their voices with any kind of positive emotions under the circumstances.

Haseul continued, "I wanted to get to know you first. Then we can get to the other stuff."

Heejin could already tell that Haseul suspected them of being a couple, and maybe she had good reason to. It was written all over her face. Was it _really_ that obvious? It obviously was to her mother and Hyunjin's parents. Her father hadn't seen them interact enough to be suspicious. What about their schoolmates?

They got the usual out of the way. Heejin told Haseul all about herself, her family, her school life, her friendship with Hyunjin. Haseul told her about her life, which was admittedly much more interesting.

"I wanted to ask you about something Hyunjin showed me when she visited," Haseul said.

Heejin grew tense. "What was it?"

"It was... a little yellow orb."

... What? Had Hyunjin really told her? Why? Did she just show it to her or did she explain everything that happened? Heejin's mind was racing. She tried to keep calm. "She showed it to you?"

Immediately after those words left her lips, Heejin had to hold back from cringing. Why would she say that? She should have approached the topic as if she didn't know anything about it, but that was out the window now. She had to be much more careful from then on to draw any type of suspicion away from herself. She couldn't risk anyone finding out about the orb and losing what she felt was her best opportunity to find Hyunjin.

"Yeah, she did..." Haseul took a slow sip of her water. "Well, at first she didn't but she was obviously under a lot of stress and I suggested that it would be a good idea if we meditated. That's when saw her reaching into her bag and pull it out. She tried to hide it from me, like it was some dirty secret. Then, after a little while, I got up and noticed that it was glowing through her clothes. I knew I probably shouldn't of said anything but I couldn't help myself and I asked her about it."

"That's... really weird." Heejin tried to take in all of the information and come up with a believable story. "She just showed it to me one day, but didn't really say anything about it."

"Did she mention where she got it from?"

Heejin shook her head and also took a sip of water. "She just said she found it somewhere. I didn't ask her anything about it since I just assumed it was some worthless toy."

Haseul's eyes lit up and she pointed at Heejin. "... I've been wrecking my brain, trying to figure out why someone would kidnap Hyunjin. Then, I thought.. what if the orb wasn't worthless? What if it was actually something very valuable and the wrong person saw it? Hyunjin spent a good amount of time out in our neighborhood, maybe that was it..."

"But..." Heejin thought for a moment, this actually seemed like a good possibility. "With how secretive she was with it— wait did her parents know about it?"

Haseul shook her head. "The first time they heard about it was when I told them and the police officer."

"Okay, well..." Darn it, this was only going to make it harder for her to keep a secret when they inevitably asked her about it. "With how secretive she was, I don't think she would've just paraded it around and show it off to everyone."

"Exactly. That's what Yeojin said. She said she also didn't know anything about it. So, it looks like you were the only one she wanted to show. She was even hiding it from me. That's why I don't think it was some worthless toy. I think it was something important and I think she knew that."

"What do you think it could be?"

"If I had to guess... I would say maybe some spiritual thing?... I don't know."

She was good. How was she this close to figuring everything out so quickly? Heejin sat there for a little while, spinning the water around her cup, thoroughly considering telling her the truth. Would it really be such a bad idea? After all, Haseul was the first person Hyunjin had ran to after what happened, that alone should be enough to earn some of her trust. The only problem was getting Haseul to not tell anyone else the true nature of the orb if she did end up taking this route. It would only take a quick demonstration of some kind to show her, then she would probably go along with Heejin's plan as there would be no reason to rat her out and potentially take away their only connection to Hyunjin. The authorities would be even less kind than her parents. But still... was it really necessary to tell her? Did Heejin need her help or could she continue to do this by herself? Could she even last another day like this? Then... another idea spawned in her mind.

"Heejin?"

Heejin shot her head up, realizing she had spaced out. "I'm sorry. I was just thinking too much."

Haseul met her gaze with a sullen half-smile. "I'm sorry if this is making you—"

"No, it's fine. I just— I... wanted to ask you something..."

She had all of Haseul's attention now. There was no going back, Heejin was making a play to get her friend back and she hoped to all of the gods and spirits that her impression of Haseul didn't betray her.

"I wanted to see if I could pay you a visit sometime."

There was a dash of confusion that flashed across Haseul's face. Her eyes shot down to the corners, as if in deep thought. "I don't think that's a good idea. Why would you want to do that? Don't you think it would only make your parents angry if they found out?"

"Of course... but they don't have to." What was she _saying_? "There's something I want to show you... but I can't show you at the moment and obviously my father won't allow you in our home." Heejin dug deep to show Haseul that she was being dead serious, she even felt her chest ache from the shame of what she was doing. "I promise you Haseul, this is the _last_ thing I want to do. I love my parents... But it's just the best way I can think of to help get our friend back. I'm not giving you any promises or guarantees, all I'm offering is hope. The hope of her closest friend. Can I trust you?"

The curtains opened and the show began.

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The sun shone down dimply on Heejin behind a lonely cloud as she rode in a stagecoach down the hill. Dwindling hope being eclipsed. The sun and cloud combined to rhyme with her sentiments in this cruel poem fate had written her into.

They had agreed to meet in Haseul's home on the weekend. Heejin had already told her parents that she would be spending most of the day studying at her friend Ryujin's house. _"It's a partner project,"_ she had told them without a trace of regret on her expressions. Neither of them hesitated to allow her, agreeing that it would be best for her to get her mind somewhat off of Hyunjin.

That night would make it a week since she had last seen her. A week. One long, agonizing week.

The day after their meeting, Heejin had concocted a way for them to keep in contact. Their parents had a carrier pigeon they rarely used locked up in a cage in their basement. Heejin would write a letter to Haseul, telling her parents it was to one of her cousins, and attach it to the pigeon. Then she took it to the post office where it was delivered to Haseul by one of the mail wagons that rode to the lower territories.

The first time, Heejin told Haseul to mark the exact time she let the pigeon go on her end. This was done at night when her parents were asleep. All carrier pigeons found their way home.

After Heejin got it back, she marked the time next to Haseul's and discovered that it took the pigeon about ten minutes to arrive. There was a window during the day where her mother would regularly take an hour-long nap, she had been doing it since Heejin was a little girl. This was when Haseul would attach her letter and send the pigeon flying back. Then, Heejin would take the pigeon back to the office, forming her response on the way, and write her letter to Haseul there before leaving it to be taken back. Her mother believed the cousin hadn't written back yet and her father didn't have a reason to be suspicious of her being in constant contact with a low-born, low-class citizen.

In one of her letters, Heejin had told Haseul how much she wanted to make missing posters of Hyunjin and put them up in street corners, but that her drawing was lousy. So, she asked a friend who knew a friend who knew an artist who was willing to help. Heejin (remembering the paintings in their home) went over to Hyunjin's house with the artist and they allowed him to use one of the paintings as a reference for the drawings.

Haseul wrote back to her, asking if Heejin could send her a drawing. "I know someone who is a really good artist," she had said, "we can put them up here too." So, Heejin sent her a drawing and Haseul reported back to her, excited to be doing anything to help.

As the week drew to a close, the police still could not find anything. There weren't even letters written to Hyunjin's parents demanding a ransom like her father expected. There was nothing. Haseul told her something about a little girl in her neighborhood who had gone missing around the same time, one who Hyunjin had interacted with, but no one knew anything about her disappearance either. Heejin began to be thankful for her decision to not tell anyone about the orbs. Just like she feared, they were their only connection to her now.

Heejin wasn't even trying to hide her stress anymore. The long hours at school without her orb had morphed into millennia. The rabbit spirit had been a bit silent recently, its messages became less frequent as the days went on and Heejin had gone beyond the point of frustration.

Her mother had began to come into her room to talk with her more often and through every one of those talks, it felt like a small part of her was stabbing them in the back. Everything Heejin was supposed to be doing, everything she had been focusing on had always been about her family. And now she was keeping this secret from them from them like they were strangers who couldn't be trusted. It wasn't that. It was that they were _too_ trustworthy. They loved her too much to let her anywhere near that orb if they ever found out what it was doing to her, but she couldn't tell them... and it tore apart.

It was her fault that Hyunjin had come across that orb in the first place. She was suffering, and it was because of Heejin. It wasn't fair for her to continue living comfortably while her friend was caught in some mysterious peril. She would do _anything_ to be able to wrap her arms around her again and tell her just how much she cared about her.

All of this still didn't stop fear from getting to her as she rode the long path down to the lower territories. She noticed the homes becoming less and less luxurious as they went on, the cracks in the pavement serving as good indicators that she was not in her little bubble anymore. Her nails almost dug into the moon engraving in her pink orb hidden in her bag as they rode past the market stands. She noticed one filled with many different types of bread and smiled as she imagined the look that must've been on Hyunjin's face if she saw it when she was taking this journey.

Only an elderly couple joined her in the wagon for a short while, neither of them saying anything. She was thankful for that.

After a while of riding, she arrived at her destination and handed the driver one of her posters, asking if he could put it up somewhere. He graciously agreed and she thanked him as she took her first steps onto unfamiliar ground. The driver decided to put the poster up on the back window.

Heejin watched it ride it ride away just as she had watched Hyunjin run from her.

_"Missing: Kim Hyunjin. Reward for any information leading to her safe return and the arrest of those responsible."_

She looked over at the towering city wall, then back to the small garden in front of where Haseul was supposed to live. She made her way through the path and then up the steps, stopping in front of her door and double checking the address to make sure she was at the right place before knocking.

It didn't take long for Haseul to answer the door. "Oh, Heejin. Come in, come in."

Heejin bowed and stepped inside. She hadn't been expecting anything too big, but this was just so much... smaller than anything she was used to. Everything well organized and clean, but she couldn't imagine living here with the walls constantly breathing down her neck.

"Don't be shy," Haseul teased, "You can have a seat on the couch over there."

The couch was cozy, and there was a strangely welcoming aura to the place. The nervousness that had built up in Heejin began to dissipate as Haseul came over with a couple of steaming cups of tea.

"How was your trip?" Haseul asked.

"It was nice. I'm sorry if I seem a little weird, I've never been this far away from home."

"You've never been outside the city?"

Heejin followed Haseul's lead and took a drink from her tea. "No. We have family a little north of here but they always come to visit us so."

"Oh, I see. We have family spread out throughout the country, most of them are too far away to even think about visiting but I have an uncle who lives out by the coast. I like taking Yeojin and a couple of friends out there during the summer. The water's beautiful that time of year."

"I've always wanted to see the ocean, but me and my family are always busy."

"Have you thought about going to a university by the coast when you graduate?"

Heejin laughed at the idea. "There's no way my parents would allow me to go anywhere else besides the very best school here in the capital, and I wouldn't want to either. I'm my parents' only child so I owe it to them to make the most of the opportunities I have."

Haseul gave her a soft, almost motherly smile. "Well, I shouldn't keep you too long then. What is it that you were going to show me?"

Heejin took another sip of her tea and placed her cup on a small table next to her. "I need you to promise me again that you won't mention this to anyone. Not even your sister."

"Heejin... I've already told you. You are her closest friend, I know you care about her more than anyone. I'm willing to do anything. If you think this is our best hope of getting her back then I'll do whatever you say."

"Okay..." She kept staring at Haseul, wanting to be absolutely certain that she was being sincere. Then, her fragile arms reached down into her bag and pulled out the large silver orb, setting it down on the couch in between them. "This is— wait! Don't touch it."

Haseul's hands froze above it, then pulled away. "Sorry, is it really fragile or something?"

"No, I just need to explain everything to you before we do anything..."

So, Heejin started from the beginning, went through the night Hyunjin kissed her and the past week, taking her time to carefully explain every little detail she could. After she was finished, it was as if Haseul's voice had been snatched. They spent the next several moments in silence, Haseul's eyes unable to move away from the orb.

"... I think I should say something," she finally managed to get out, "About the day that Hyunjin came here." Haseul took a long sip of her tea, as if needing it to help gather her thoughts. "When we meditated... I had the strangest experience. For a moment, I was a bird sitting on a branch... then I saw Hyunjin walk out onto the balcony. I got startled and that's when I opened my eyes and saw her getting the orb. I... also have to confess that I didn't say anything to her about it. I just wanted to see if you knew. Sorry."

"It's... fine." Heejin wasn't even angry. In fact, she was thankful that Haseul managed to get her to admit to knowing about it. If not, she might've driven herself insane having no one else to really talk to about it. Her attention then shifted to what Haseul had said about her vision. "Was that the only thing you saw?"

"Yeah. That was it. We kept meditating for a little while after that and Hyunjin seemed like she was hypnotized or something. I had to shake her to wake her up."

This was obviously a sign. Heejin was connected to the rabbit spirit, Hyunjin to the cat, and it seemed like if Haseul touched the orb... she would be connected to a bird of some kind? Wait... "I saw a dove flying in the sky in my dreams the last night I saw Hyunjin."

The tension in the room grew. Heejin knew Haseul was aware of what this meant, but neither of them said anything until the sound of a bird singing outside broke the tension.

"I'll do it," Haseul said confidently.

"Are you—"

"Yes. I might not know what this thing is exactly or why it's affecting you the way it is but... from what I can tell, it _does_ give you a connection of some kind to each other. Maybe if we both have orbs then we can try to reach out to Hyunjin somehow. It's the best shot we have right now."

"It is." Heejin reached out her hand and used the other to take her pink orb from her bag. "I would have preferred to do this at night but obviously I can't stay here that long. I'm ready if you are."

Haseul gripped Heejin's hand tight and stared back at the orb between them. She slowly reached out and placed her hand on it.

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"How is the project coming along, sweetie?"

Heejin was staring down at her plate, not sure of what to make of the food that was staring back at her. "Fine. It's— it's going fine. Ryujin was really helpful."

"Good. I've always like her. You can just tell she's going to be successful when she grows up."

Heejin nodded but her eyes didn't move from her food. All of the events from the past week swirled in her head. Her schoolwork was already suffering a bit, anymore of this and her parents would start to question her about what was going on. "I'm not feeling hungry. Can— can I be excused?"

"But you've barely touched your food, honey. Did you eat at Ryujin's?"

"Y— yeah. I love your cooking mom, I promise."

"Well, okay. But don't get mad at me when your father eats what's left."

Heejin forced out a smile and made her way up to her room, locking the door behind her and throwing herself onto her bed. Her fingers pressed against her eyelids and she let out a loud sigh. The room was silent, tranquil. It was the right time to try again.

She took the orb from the back of her pillow and enveloped it with both hands as she did exactly what Haseul had taught her. Back straight, eyes closed, taking deep breaths.

She had already tried meditating with Haseul earlier but it hadn't sparked anything. She had gotten very frustrated and eventually had to leave without really making any progress. All the time she spent there was her trying desperately to, " _not try,"_ to do anything. That didn't even make any sense. Every time she had wanted something in her life, she had put in the effort and all of her mind and soul into it, but now she was supposed to _not_ do that. How could she remove her emotions from this? It's not like they would just hop right up and conveniently leave if she sat there and breathed.

Heejin actually slapped herself and took another deep breath. It didn't matter how long she sat, she _would_ figure this out, just like she had figured out everything else she came across. She knew it was arrogant to think like that, but she couldn't help it. The results spoke for themselves.

A couple of hours must've passed before she got through thinking everything she wanted to think of. After that, all she could do was breathe. This time, she didn't need to try, it just came naturally. Eventually, she felt the bed beneath her get thinner and thinner before disappearing. Still, she didn't open her eyes, she simply allowed herself to exist, to be calm, at ease. It felt liberating.

With each of her breaths, she felt her soul reach out, then contract, reach out, and contract again. It filled her body with a warm, fuzzy feeling, almost like the feeling she had experienced that night with Hyunjin. She allowed herself to be taken back to that night and live it once again. With her calm eyes closed, she saw her. Hyunjin's lips pressed against her own, this time she noticed the sorrow sparkling on the surface of a lone tear running down her cheek.

Once again, Hyunjin ran. But this time, Heejin chased after her. She jumped down the ladder and found herself in a path surrounded by tall trees on either side. Hyunjin continued to run down the path and she followed after her.

"Hyunjin! Hyunjin! Wait! It's okay, come back! Please!" Heejin ran as fast as she could, following the twisting path downhill, only coming to a stop when Hyunjin had vanished. She was gone. Heejin was alone.

The sounds of animals echoed from deep inside the trees. Heejin looked down at her soft, trembling hands, then up at the column of pink sky that the trees had shaped. The moon was bright.

Her arm became an extension of her soul and she reached out to it, feeling herself fill up with its energy. The feeling brought tears to her eyes. She felt connected to it all; the trees, the sky, the ground beneath her feet, the sounds, the smells, the darkness, the light.

Then, she heard something scurry past her feet. She whipped her head around, feeling every strand of hair gracefully dancing with the whistling air like she imagined the waves of the ocean did.

It was the rabbit. The same white rabbit she had seen on the first night. Heejin followed it running down the path, her feet becoming as light as the rabbit's. She managed to catch up to it and run alongside until the trees grew smaller and smaller.

At the end of the path, there was a river that cut across the valley they were in, the lush blades of grass matching the sky in their beautiful hue. The shadows of the mountains around them offered them shelter from the sun. Heejin looked up and down the stream, noticing animals as far as the eye could see, all drinking from the river. She looked down at the rabbit that had led her here, now reaching its paws up to her.

She bent down and picked it up, comforting it with a hug and petting its fur as it purred. Then, she walked over to the river, parched from her running, and drank from it. She opened her eyes and saw a little girl standing behind her in the reflection, petting a cat.

Heejin stood up, but to her surprise, she was the same height as the little girl. "Hyunjin?" Her voice had also grown smaller, returning what it had once been, back when the two of them first met.

"Aeong!" The girl stuck two fingers out and pushed them against Heejin's forehead, sending her falling back into the water. Heejin closed her eyes, expecting to smack against the surface but instead she kept falling. Screams circled around her as her back collided against the hard pavement. Her eyes flew open. Everything was chaos.

Heejin stood up, observing the madness around her. She got a glimpse of the hills in the distance, the sky a cool pink. She was back in the streets of the lower territories. People ran past her, some being chased by police. With her rabbit still in her arms, she went over to a group of little kids who were weeping and tried to put and hand on their shoulder to console them, but it passed through them like a ghost.

"Can you hear me?" Her voice echoed as if she was in a dark cave. No one responded.

She decided to keep walking down the street, trying to understand what was going on. Horses neighed in panic, windows were broken, wooden shingles fell at her feet, people ran out of houses with belongings and screamed from the rooftops.

"Down with the oligarchy!"

"We demand justice!"

"Where is my baby boy?! Has anyone seen him!?"

Suddenly, Heejin felt a tug on her blouse. It was Hyunjin, the little girl from before. "Aeong."

"You can see me?" Heejin asked.

Hyunjin nodded and held her hand, leading her down the street, unfazed by the swarms of people running through her. Eventually, she stopped in front of a bakery at the corner of the street. The window had been shattered and its pieces were scattered across the floor.

Another little Hyunjin ran through them and into the bakery in a school uniform. Heejin continued to hold onto her Hyunjin's hand as they stepped inside and looked over the mess. Loaves of bread were spread across the wooden floor of the small place. There was a counter at the front where the sound of sobs was coming from. Heejin looked down at her Hyunjin who simply gave her a nod.

Heejin walked over to the counter with her and looked around behind it. There as a man lying across the floor in a baker's uniform, his eyes fighting to stay open. The other Hyunjin was kneeling by his side, tears in her eyes. "It's okay daddy, I'll run to the doctor as fast as I can and he'll make you all better."

Just as she started to get up, her father used what must've been his remaining strength to take her hand and stop her. "No, stay. I need you to do something for me."

"What is it daddy?"

"Do you see the loaf of bread I have in my hand?" His voice was fading, but he still managed to put on a smile for his innocent daughter. "I want you have it. I made it for you."

Hyunjin took the bread from his hand, looking back at her father.

"Well don't just hold it," he joked, "take a bite."

Hyunjin did as she was told, nibbling a bit of the bread before being overwhelmed by her tears. "What's happening daddy? I want to help you. Please tell me how I can help."

"You are fine just the way you are, Hyunjin. I don't ever want you to change. Don't be sad, we'll always be with you..." His eyes finally shut and his smile froze.

"Daddy? Daddy? Wake up!" Hyunjin shook his body, the bread in her hand falling to the floor. Panic overtook her as she stood up trembling and ran into a hall through the back. Heejin heard the sound of her running up the stairs into a room above them. Their sounds once again became distant.

She looked back to the bread on the floor and watched as a black kitten waltzed up to it and began to nibble on it. The kitten met her gaze and stared before speaking.

"I miss you."

"Aeong." Hyunjin stepped in front of her before smiling and letting go of her hand. Heejin fell through the floor in silence. She didn't scream and she wasn't frightened. Everything around her became dark as she continued to fall until her feet touched down on a gray surface. Stars were born around her one by one as she looked around the completely smooth surface of the moon.

The rabbit hopped from her arms and looked up at her, making a strange sound. Then, it began to dig, looking back up at her again and urging her to join. Heejin got on her knees and for the first time in her life, didn't care about getting dirty. They both continued to dig a large hole, clawing their way until they reached the center. There was a giant, shining ball of light that floated in the air and twelve different smaller spheres that orbited around it.

Heejin and the rabbit hopped down from their hole and onto the crescent path that led up to it. They made their way to the ball as Heejin looked around at the other spheres. She saw Hyunjin's yellow, Haseul's green, orange, and many other colors. Once again, she reached out and touched the ball of light. Then, her eyes opened and she woke up back in her bed.

She looked down at her hands, now calm, and began to open and close them. Her orb was not glowing and she felt a strange sensation in her, almost like the spirit had entered her body and stayed there. Then, she looked around her room... she could see color again. A single tear fell from her eye and splashed against her palm as she heard a knock on her door.

"Honey?" Her mother's voice was muffled again. "Are you still studying? You father left a little food for you on the table if you want it."

Heejin hid her orb in her pillow again and opened the door, wrapping her arms around her mother, a feral urge to hold on overtook her. "I'm so sorry mother..."

"What for? Heejin, you're scaring me."

"I haven't been good to you, I haven't been appreciative enough of you or father. I'm sorry."

"Aw, Heejin..." Her mother massaged her back and caressed her sobs. "You have been _more_ than good to us. It's us who should be appreciative of _you_. I don't think you understand just how lucky we are to have someone as bright and talented and sweet and hard working as you in our lives." She took her by the chin and wiped away her tears. "Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

Heejin looked her mother straight in the eyes and said, "I miss her so much."

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The next day was a holiday. Heejin and her parents spent most of their time at the city temple taking apart in an extravagant celebration for the gods. To her delight, she felt completely stable away from the orb. Usually, Heejin would be enthusiastic about having the chance to spend more time with some of her friends and family she rarely got to see, but it wasn't the same without her. All of the pageantry, the dancing, the laughter... what did it all really mean? The person she once was... was not there anymore, but she didn't mourn her. Instead, she embraced the her new self and enjoyed the new place she looked out at the world from. The view was clearer, she was separate from her surface but felt connected to everyone else, without needing to utter a word.

After the celebration, they headed back home and Heejin decided to pay her grandfather another visit. This time she didn't say anything, instead she simply sat next to him, her chin resting on her interlocked hands, contemplating why they had chosen her. Was there something about her that made her more worthy than everyone else? She had read many tales of, "chosen ones," and extraordinary people going on incredible adventures.

She was not them.

Jo Heejin was just an ordinary rich girl. There were no prophecies written in stone for her, no songs sung in her name. Why then did she feel like she had the weight of the moon resting on her shoulders? She could have easily told her parents about everything that had happened to her and attempted to go back to the comfortable life that she had lived, so why did she not want to? Was it hubris? The thrill of the unknown? The chance to discover something bigger than any royalty? Even if she did find Hyunjin, what would she do after that? What was her purpose in all of this?

Heejin stood up and looked up at the sky once again, then down at her hand. The same hand that she had used to dig on the surface of the now distant moon. She went over to the tree behind her grandfather's grave and lightly put her fingertips on its surface, taking a deep breath and focusing on her strengthened connection to Hyunjin. Then, she pressed against it and dug her nails into the bark, slowly scraping down and watching the little pieces fall at her feet without a hint of pain despite the splinters. When she looked back up at what she had created, her jaw dropped. She stared at it, like a baby staring up into the loving eyes of her mother, listening to the sound of the wind blowing her hair like leaves. Then, she began to carve against the surface again, carefully forming a small hole and smiling.

She shut one of her eyes and leaned into the hole with the other, whispering to the frightened girl that she saw on the other side. "Hyunjin..."

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